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Eye of the Tiger Beer.
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Annie get your Run wrote: »It was! are we going to hear about it?? How's the recovery going...?
On Sunday I was down the country for a couple of nights with my better half as we were celebrating our 10 year anniversary of getting married. We were in a place that had practically zero Internet connectivity, barely even anything on the phone. I did have my laptop with me, and started writing a long, boring and self-indulgent race report that I can't even finish reading, nevermind finish writing
So to avoid all my loyal readers having to read how each ascent and descent of Two Rock and co. went, I'll just do a bullet point summary of the race.
Overall the race was tough, and I wrecked myself. I wasn't in great form going into it as I've had a dodgy few weeks and was recovering from a cold. I do really enjoy hill running, and I really should be able to get through this kind of long run reasonably well, so I was looking forward to getting around the course anyway. On the morning itself I was thinking of taking it easy and just enjoying it, but of course once the race started, some sort of mid-pack competitiveness kicked in and I did my best to destroy myself I'd highly recommend the race to anybody, though it might be a while before I do another long trail run like this... maybe a year or so
What went well
- The organisation was fantastic. Volunteers all over the place, giving great support and even thanking you for doing the race.
- The course was amazing. It was like going from level to level in a video game, the variety in the levels course was a joy.
- The weather could have been a lot worse I guess!
- The last 1.9 miles were fun. I got to the top of the last damn hill and the route turned onto a regular non-headwrecking/life threatening/jagged path. I knew what to do here - run as fast as I can and empty the tank. I got into a reasonable groove, flew past a good few runners, though I picked up some other lad on the way and we had a good natured tussle over the last km or so (I beat him by less than a second).
- It wasn't a terrible performance in my first long long race like this!
What didn't go so well- Falling about an hour into the race took a lot out of me. It was somewhere in the forest in Cruagh. I was losing some concentration due to fatigue, hit off something and went flying, banging my right knee hard. It bled a bit, but it was more the knock that made me feel sorry for myself. I walked for a couple of minutes then slowly ran it off. I wasn't as aggressive running afterwards.
- I felt fatigued sooner than I thought I would, and did more walking than I expected which didn't help morale. I was expecting to do some walking, but not quite as much. On my recent recce of some of the course I pretty much ran up the hills, though I was well rested then and it was a lot shorter run.
- I had a bad reaction to a gel, having what I could probably best describe as a few wet wretches (not quite vomits). In keeping with not feeling great.
- I was completely destroyed at the end. Emptying the tank for the last 14 minutes or so, some accumulated coldness and maybe not eating/drinking much during the race all ganged up to make me feel very bad at the end. I wasn't feeling very social and kind of just wanted to go to a warm bed for a very long time.
Time: 2:40:53 (official)
Place: 55 / 266 (the results indicate that I was pipped on the line, I definitely wasn't!).
Social notes
Met up with a bunch of the northside boards gang and exchanged well wishes etc. before the race. Poor murph_d and annapr had to suffer my post-race woes for a bit, which slowly got better before I struggled to walk over to my car in Johnny Foxes' overflow carpark where I got dressed and headed to Johnny Foxes for a coke before driving around a couple of suburbs to drop two lads from work home.
Recovery
Recovery has been slow. I took Sunday off, but my quads were giving me serious problems walking up and down stairs! Monday wasn't much better, though I got back out running, and the quads have been calming down all week. My back is back being a little stiff as the week has progressed though and I'm not running very fast right now, but that's ok. Gonna take another day off tomorrow I reckon.0 -
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This week was kind of marathony I guess, with a not-terrible 20 miler and a parkrun as a session. My paces are still slower than usual, with a little bit of residual stiffness in the back but I'm feeling better post-cold, getting ok sleep and avoiding booze, so I think I'm on the mend.
On Monday I was in Monart for the previously mentioned anniversary, and did a laboured 5k on the treadmill in the morning, and then went out to do laps of a few fields, and my legs started to feel a bit better after the damage done at RTL. We were back home on Tuesday, and stopped off in Blanchardstown Shopping Centre to do some santa shopping and I ran back to Swords via the Royal Canal. It was slightly longer than I expected, and I think I slowed down a bit as it went on but otherwise a nice run. My fans on Strava will be wondering why these runs were uploaded manually - the big reveal is that I forgot my watch, so was running my better half's watch and I haven't bothered getting the data out of the damn thing
I was going to do Malahide parkrun on Saturday, but ended up leaving the house a few minutes late so just jogged over to Rivervalley, which ended up being worthwhile. I met Bungy Girl when jogging over to the startline, and clickerquicklic immediately before the start. The timed run started a bit abruptly, with no countdown and despite being pretty much at the front I wasn't even at the line. I got a quick enough start in, maybe RTL helped remove my hesitation going down the hill, and I was in second with an over-enthusiastic pre-teen in front of me whom I knew I'd pass pretty soon after the hill. By the first 1km I was in the lead, but with the watch having beeped at 3:40 I knew I had probably done a bit of damage with the fast start. I remained in the lead until going down the hill the second time, when clickerquicklic flew past me, only for him to stop at the bridge and start messing with his shoes. My lead remained until the second hill, which by now I was feeling quite tired, and 3 runners went past. One of them pulled up at the top of the hill, and from now on no positions changed in the top-3. I started to keep an eye on my watch and reckoned sub-20 could be on the cards, so I pushed a bit and sprinted towards the end, with 19:59.4 on my watch at the end. I was a bit worried that I hadn't started the watch at the same time as the surprise start, but the were rumours of complications with the official timing and the RD had overheard my time and if I were to guess they calibrated off it - I should have said I broke 17:00! After a brief and nice chat with BG I jogged back home. Happy enough with the parkrun, definitely a decent effort and just my second time breaking 20 there.
Sunday's long run was my first 20 mile training run in well over a year I kept the pace reasonably sedate, and explored the back roads around the airport, the airport itself, Finglas, DCU and back along my commute route. It was probably the best I've felt after nearly 3 hours on my feet - after a glass of chocolate milk and shower I was pretty much immediately out doing the weekly shop, making lunch etc. Usually I'd be a lot more tired and might have a few aches and pains. I've been a little tired over the course of the day, and a little stiff here and there but nothing too bad. Maybe the body is getting used to this running lark
Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
27th November|3.1 miles|9:30|Hotel dreadmill, sweaty and annoying.
27th November|6.4 miles|9:23|Very enjoyable canter around some wet, hilly, grassy and occasionally muddy fields.
28th November|14.2 miles|8:37|Blanchardstown -> Castleknock -> Royal Canal -> Phibsborough -> Ballymun -> Northwood -> Airport -> Swords
29th November|9 miles|9:06|Commute into work wearing lots of layers to avoid the cold.
30th November|9.1 miles|8:46|Commute home, slower than usual.
2nd December|7.6 miles|?|Jog to and from parkrun, and the parkrun
3rd December|20.7 miles|8:20|Alright long run
Total: 70.3 miles
Next week: Hopefully similar milage, and should make it to the club on Tuesday.0 -
Hmm. A very slow week. Maybe it's the cold, or maybe something else is up, but I don't feel like running particularly fast right now. All my paces are slower than they were relatively recently. Mileage is decent, though really not that much more than I've been doing all year, so shouldn't be causing me to slow down this much.
On Tuesday I went over to the club and did the prescribed session - a pyramid of 400, 800, 1200, 1200, 800 and 400. I made a mess of the timing for the first two, after that they were 4:41, 4:34, 3:00, 1:27. Not very fast but consistent enough. I was running with the coach, who is over 60, had ran 5 races in the proceeding 7 days or so, and was complaining of a sinus infection. He handed me my ass on the last rep, which shows how great my form is right now
On Wednesday I didn't feel great, so took it off. Nothing interesting then happened until Sunday when I did another 20 miler, which was very, very slow. I felt like I was putting in normal long run effort, which up until recently was not far off 8:00. I felt comfortable enough on the run, though my hands were freezing despite the gloves. I was happy enough at the time to keep the effort consistent and not get stressed about the pace. I don't pay too much attention to the unreliable optical HRM on my Garmin, but from comparing it to a far better 18.5 miler a few weeks ago, my heart race was around the same, so it seems I got my running by feel right. That just leaves the question of why I'm running slower! It's either being less efficient in the cold or I'm in some overtrained state. I don't feel particularly bad right now, definitely a bit tired from all the bloody running though that's to be expected I would consider a break, but you know, 27 days until a marathon and I have 21 days to run 200 miles to hit 3000 for the year :rolleyes::o No niggles of note and sleep has been good the last two weeks (i.e. successfully avoiding booze, the kids are still a bit disruptive during the nights but that's a harder problem to solve).
Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
December 4th|10.2 miles|9:14|Very easy commute home.
December 5th|8.7 miles|?|Jog to Irishtown, a few warmup loops, some strides, the session as above and some cooldown to the bus.
December 7th|12 miles|8:30|A slightly longer commute than usual
December 8th|10.2 miles|8:48|A cold commute
December 9th|9 miles|8:49|An easy run around Swords. Went out after eating and felt bloated and slow.
December 10th|20 miles|8:52|Long, slow slow slow run in the cold.
Total: 70.3 miles
Next week: A bunch of slow running I guess Also hopefully some fast running - I registered for the 800m and 1 mile in the NIA Live event on Thursday. My miserable mile PB (5:50) will hopefully be put under pressure, though I've done nothing for it so we'll see what happens 0 -
This one counts as a good week.
As threatened I popped along to the NIA Live event on Thursday. Not too many people from the club actually showed up, so I was basically on my tod for it, though with the various races and getting warmed I wasn't totallu bored. Getting to the venue using public transport is a bit of an ordeal, the 39 and a long walk. Once there though the venue and setup were both impressive. I watched an elimination mile with only 4 runners, then got ready and watched some of the sprinters before heading for the 800m registration. I'd no real idea how this would go, worst case it was a warm-up for the mile. I was in the third of three heats, it looked like there weren't many slower folks around for this event. The track was a 200 metre loop and slanted, which even though I was on the inside I still felt a little bit of slope at times which took a little getting used to. The race didn't go amazing - I started slow enough (or maybe everybody else tore off) then overtook one or two folks, and then got overtaken myself before finishing second last in 2:39.74, which on later reflection isn't a terrible time given the zero training done for this and nothing this fast having been run in a long long time. Technically a PB as it was my first ever 800m
My lungs were sore afterwards and I took a while to recover before warming back up for the mile with Sonia. There were a lot of people around for this, maybe 20-something on the track. I started just behind Sonia who was in the middle of the track, but overtook her soon enough. I worked my way into third or fourth or so, though lost a place or two as the laps continued. I went over the last lap with just over 5:00 on the clock and did my best to speed up and empty the tank. I had Sonia in my sights on the last lap but couldn't quite get to her before going over the line. I didn't see what time I crossed over the line, I hadn't actually started my watch correctly, and I'd been incorrectly told that I had another lap to do upon finishing. The end was a chaotic, and the person ahead of me was told they were in seventh, so maybe I was in eighth though I was half-sure that I hadn't been overtaken by that many. Whoever finished eighth finished in 6:01, which'd be a non-PB and a very underwhelming result, though I was sure that I had done better in reality. Thankfully the video of the race was online, and nicely got me coming up to the finish line as Sonia went over the line for her last lap, and taking in the clock which showed 5:43 or so. The person who finished 5th was down as some other runner from Crusaders, so maybe that was the confusion? Or maybe it was just general chaos at the end due to all the lapping. Happy enough with the time - maybe a few seconds lost at the start and overtaking when lapping some runners (including a pair who were running side by side). A seven second PB which is nicely consistent with the diminishing returns I've been getting all year in races
The other interesting parts of this week were picking up a pair of racers with spikes for the track event (marginal gains ahoy) and a new pair of Hoka's in time for the Disney marathon. Speaking of which, the corrals and numbers came out for this, of the 14332 registered runners I've been given number 157, which means I have the 157th fastest "proof of time" (my half-marathon effort from earlier this year) - those numbers exclude those doing the Dopey and Goofy challenges, which are a 5k, 10k, HM and the marathon that happen on consecutive days though.
This week's long run was good, with 22 miles done in just under three hours... at least I'm pretty sure it was. My Garmin ran out of battery along the way, I tried to track the remainder using the Strava app on my phone but it inexplicably only recorded the last 3 miles or so. Overall I think I probably did about 22.2 miles in three hours, which I'm happy with. Doing sub-8 miles didn't feel hard, and since I've been quite slow over the last while it was a bit of a relief. I did slow down as the miles ticked by, and it did get hard enough after mile 18, but that's the nature of the beast. I ran from Swords via Ballymun Road to Phibsborough, then ran along the canal until Ashtown, looped around the apartment block across from the Runhub to get over 11 miles before turning back, and then went mostly along the same way except I went down Collins Ave to the Swords Road (that's where the extra .2 came from). The weather was good, though with a stiff breeze at times when heading up Ballymun Ave and the canal.
Overall - no niggles, I feel good running, milage is ok and a PB. Not bad.
Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
10th December|10 miles|9:11|A frosty commute home
11th December|10.1 miles|8:25|A better commute home, with a couple of faster miles at the end.
12th December|9.1 miles|8:45|Very easy commute
13th December|4.1 miles|?|Not sure on the distance, could well be a bit higher as I was indoors. Includes the 800m and mile races.
14th December|9.2 miles|9:12|Decent commute in the morning
16th December|22 miles|8:10|Good long run as above
Total: 64.7 miles
Next week: More miles, less PBs Life will be throwing some festive distractions my way this week. Three weeks to go to the marathon - I wonder if the Norwegians are good at forecasting Orlando's weather. 0 -
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Well done on the 800/mile double. Far too many in the Sonia race if you were looking for a quick time. I was actually down for the 800m as well but thought lack of speedwork would catch me out, if I had of ran I reckon you'd have been 2nd last :-)
I was last in the next mile race though but glad I opted for that one.
Do you plan on going back out in January?
I'd like to get out to it again, but probably not in January - I'd like to do a smidgen of relevant training, and I'll be post-marathon / pre-50k then 0 -
Overall - no niggles, I feel good running, milage is ok and a PB. Not bad.
Why on earth did I write this down?
I woke up on Monday with an extremely stiff back. It's not sore-sore, but I walk very funny as a result and feel very immobile. It's a repeat of my back woes from a few weeks ago. The tightness on the left side of my lower back, and weirdly when I'm walking it feels like my left leg is a different size to my right leg, which I put down to reduced mobility/flexibility. It's not sore as such, more like a very mild dull ache, but it's very stiff. I ran home yesterday at a laughably slow pace (possibly my slowest commute ever) and decided to take today off entirely to rest up. I know that rest fixes this, but the recurrence is frustrating. The sensible thing to do is not to try to run it off, at least for a day or two. I might do a few slow miles tomorrow, but probably not a commute. Bah
:mad: 0 -
Seriously B - if I were you (and I have experience with back pain), I'd stop chasing that 3,000 miles and take a few days off. Think of how a tweaked back ended Krusty's Berlin marathon plans (then think of what he did next after recuperating
). Two episodes of this sounds like a real warning sign to me. 0 -
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Thank you all. All of you are correct, at least 45% of my brain agrees, but most importantly my wife agrees with you - there is no way I can win from here I need to take it easy for a bit, a wonky back is not something to be flippant about. Between now and the marathon there won’t be *too* much running. I’m thinking of not bothering with Donadea, though more likely I’ll do it after some more rest with lowered expectations. 0
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A not-great week of slowness and lethargy. Not only was I subjected to the tyranny of caring followers on this training log, my wife also agreed with the general assessment as I was walking very weirdly on Monday. To make things worse, over the last few days I think I've been suffering from some hyperthyroidism... maybe it's all in my head but I've had a few mild symptoms. I'll make some slight adjustments to my meds and see how it goes. These bouts tend to coincide with sh!te running. Along those lines, I've had loads of bloods done over the last few years, though only for thyroid related stuff and when another time when I inexplicably got a bout of pleurisy and a coronary related condition needed to be ruled out. I should probably get a proper checkup - this is now a new year's resolution!
Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
18th December|10.2 miles|9:37|Slowwwwwwww commute. Back very, very stiff. Not sore, but far from comfortable. Kind of loosened out as I ambled along.
20th December|10.3 miles|8:27|A far better commute, no obvious stiffness.
21st December|9.9 miles|8:53|Ok commute into work in the morning. Would have obviously made it to 10 but met somebody when passing the office and didn't want to look like I was obsessing about arbitrary targets Last commute of the year - total was 118 (PB).
21st December|4.2 miles|8:58|A few easy miles around town after work before going on the beer.
23rd December|13.1 miles|8:31|In to town to watch Barcelona somehow destroy Madrid with a few mates. Office was closed, so the match was enjoyed after a wet-wipe shower. Back a little bit stiff after, but only slightly so - maybe I'm being over sensitive to it now.
Total: 47.9 miles
Next week: I need to do something at planned MP. Still not sure what my plan is. I doubt I'll do better than Dublin, though I'm not far off the same level of fitness, and the course is a lot flatter. The weather doesn't look terrible (no wind, not too warm), though there's loads of time for that to change. Milage will be disrupted due to travelling to Orlando at the end of the week, and not being in work so I can't knock out a load of 10 mile runs without a lot of negotiation at home 0 -
I'm writing this from my pre-marathon holding camp (Legoland) before travelling to the race venue (Disneyworld) later today. Yesterday was the last "hard" day before Sunday's race, with a few miles at faster-than-MP followed by an endurance strength session (bringing kids around Legoland, including a mile or two's worth of jockeybacks). I'll do a bit more easy running around Disney once there between now and Sunday, with one of them at race time (5.30AM) so I don't succumb to defeating jetlag entirely over the next few days. The weather doesn't look great. Right now it's p!ssing rain, and for the marathon it'll be around 6 degrees according to the Norwegians. My better half will have it worse, it'll be close to freezing for her half on Saturday.
So the plan for Sunday... well, life is transient and the possibility to run PBs even more so, so I guess that's what I'll go for. The cold weather and having to stand around for an hour or two beforehand are serious threats to any PB attempt. However the course is flat (if a little twisty, especially in the parks - see here for the course certificate) and hopefully the cheesy corporate surroundings will inspire a bit of well paced running. A conservative pacing plan worked well for Dublin so I'll go out slowly, work up to PB pace and then see what happens. If it doesn't happen, I won't be devastated, but I really don't want to blow up.
Last week's running was almost non-existent. As the 3000 miles target sailed off into the sunset I got a little bit demotivated and used the excuse of being busy with Christmas along with in theory being in a taper to do sweet fsck all. I did however somehow get to do a parkrun on Saturday just before going to the airport to fly to Orlando (sometimes living in North County Dublin has its advantages!). I still had to keep it brief enough, so drove over and got in a short warmup. No real pace target, just experience a bit of 5k pain. I didn't go out too crazily and kept the pace comfortable enough, so much so that by the time the 4th km came around I was still feeling strong enough and not hurting too bad. Ended up finishing in 19:36, which was fine.
Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
27th December|7.2 miles|7:58|Out to Malahide. This pace felt very easy after 3 days off!
28th December|13.3 miles|8:47|Another run that felt a lot tougher than it should have due to the cold.
30th December|4.4 miles|?|Malahide parkrun as above
Total: 25 miles
Next week: Not too much running, then a marathon in the most magical place on earth If you have nothing better to do on Sunday morning, here's the tracker: https://track.rtrt.me/e/WDW-WDW-2018 0 -
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