Eye of the Tiger Beer.

Pomplamousse · 01-02-2019 9:49pm

I don't think All Together Now is sold out. At least I hope not, still debating whether to go.

Ps: congrats on the Raheny PB. Hope the niggle has sorted itself out.

Singer · 03-02-2019 10:29pm

This week went to plan. A few more miles here and and there would have been nice. Hip/upper leg niggles mostly under control though general running still a lot slower than historically the case. Pilates on Tuesday was good.

Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
28th January|9.2 miles|9:38|Nice and easy post-race commute
29th January|9.2 miles|?|Crusaders session - 3 x 400 off 45, 30, 15, and a jog around the pitch. 1:29, 1:29, 1:31, 1:34, 1:38, 1:36, 1:34, 1:34, 1:39, 1:37, 1:35, 1:35. Suffered a bit in this. Raheny pace two days prior was 1:34 per 400 metres for 5 miles

Singer · 10-02-2019 9:32pm

Apart from some tender calves, this week has been niggle-free and actually pretty enjoyable.

Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
4th February|10 miles|9:35|Very easy Monday commute
5th February|9.6 miles|?|Cru session. 5 x (400, 200 jog, 600) off 75 secs. Bit of a mixed bag: 1:33, 2:23, 1:33, 2:22, 1:33, 2:25, 1:32, 2:23, 1:36, 2:15. I was annoyed at the final 400, so pushed the following 600 and felt good after the blow-out. I felt tired going into this session, and the times are still slow compared to Raheny. When I'm actually in pre-race prep I do my mid-week session on the Wednesdays as the extra day between the long-run seems to help, especially with the commutes in between. I might do half a commute tomorrow and see does that make a difference.
6th February|9.2 miles|9:18|More easy commuting
7th February|9.1 miles|9:02|See above
9th February|5.4 miles|?|Rivervalley parkrun in 21:30. Got in a volunteer credit as when I finished 4th there was just one girl doing scanning, so I offered my services. Just did the minimal to/from jogs due to time constraints.
10th February|18.5 miles|8:43|An accidentally long long-run. When I headed out it was nice but windy, so I decided to not head out to the coast, but instead to do each of my local parkruns - Rivervalley, Holywell junior and Malahide. Doing each of the courses broke things up quite well, but it was a longer run than I was expecting. Started to get tired towards the end, especially running back to Swords with a stiff breeze in my face. Still though, mostly was a very comfortable run, and I wasn't that tired or sore afterwards, though my shorts did chafe the sh!t out of my inner thighs.

Total: 62 miles

Next week: Same again. I'm going to figure out a racing plan for the year any day now.

Singer · 27-02-2019 10:33pm

There's some sort of relationship between not-great running and getting lazy updating my log which I haven't quite figured out yet but I am sure are very connected

So my recent couple of weeks have been low on miles, but relatively high on quality, which is probably better than the other way around. I am still mostly niggle-free and actually feeling pretty good, and I think my easy pace is starting to come down - that or the brighter evenings are lending themselves to more joyful jogging on my commutes home!

So, I did actually register for some races and bought some new runners, both of which were very overdue. I registered for a couple of NIA Live races (more on those later), Lusk 4 Mile (this Sunday!) and the Drogheda 10k which is over the May bank holiday weekend. I was toying with the idea of doing the National 10k, but Drogheda suits a bit more training-wise (as in, it's a few weeks later). Sub-40 will be the target there, but with the ridiculous hill in that race I'll need to be in significantly sub-40 shape

Runner-wise I tried out almost every neutral size 9.5 shoe that RunHub on Aungier St. had, but ended up going with the tried and trusted Brooks Ghost 11s, and a pair of Nike Zoom Fly which are similar to the 4% yokes but nowhere near as expensive and feel a bit more robust, so they're my parkrun/session runners for now. I also invested in another pair of 4% as they're back on sale, so that's DCM 2019 sorted

I showed up to NIA Live last week, having registered for the 800m and mile, which was the same as the last time I went along to NIA Live. I dragged C. from work along, and met murph_d on the way in. We also bumped into dubgal!!! who was also doing the mile. I wasn't feeling amazing, having had a headache for most of the day. What also didn't help was an annoying extended warm-up jogging around and doing strides waiting to be called for the 800m. It must have been about 30 minutes later than advertised, and I was feeling a bit tired by the time we were getting onto the track. murph_d was in my "heat" (i.e. we were in the slower set of people who showed up). I ended up on the outside lane with some other guy, which is actually kind of weird on the indoor track due to the little climb at the start. The start was way too fast, and I was basically wrecked by the first 200. I think I heard dubgal shout "relax Brian!", and I settled in painfully well behind murph_d, and then slogged my way around the next 3 laps. My lungs were *burning* and my arms got weirdly numb and had pins and needles in them, which I guess are both signs of a good effort... however in the end I was miles behind murph_d and 2 seconds slower than my previous 800m over a year prior. Bleh.

The wait for the mile also appeared to take a long, long time though I was a lot less interested in warming up for it due to the general wonkyness and tiredness that was further exaggerated by the torture-fest that was the 800m. The mile was a lot more controlled, though not particularly fast. dubgal slaughtered me by nearly 20 seconds and I finished in 5:50, over 8 seconds slower than last year, but was actually reasonably pleased with the run. Wearing the track spikes didn't suit me and I had weird leg pains before, during and after. I probably should have worn the 4%

El CabaIIo · 27-02-2019 10:44pm

Track spikes take some getting used to, you have to wear them a bit in training otherwise you will be broke up in your ankles and calves during and after. You have to transition into them slowly but nothing beats wearing a pair once you do. It's almost like a ritual slipping them on as you feel faster before even taking a step:)

Singer · 27-02-2019 11:04pm

El CabaIIo wrote: »

Track spikes take some getting used to, you have to wear them a bit in training otherwise you will be broke up in your ankles and calves during and after. You have to transition into them slowly but nothing beats wearing a pair once you do. It's almost like a ritual slipping them on as you feel faster before even taking a step:)

Yeh, they feel tougher a lot tougher on my legs than racing flats (which are also ridiculously tough), my calves were giving out a lot. Maybe I should get a pair of Muir's semi-legal 4%ers

Murph_D · 28-02-2019 9:41pm

Well done on the NIA, B, regardless of performance, times, etc. We were both 2 secs slower than last time, as it happens, but another race, another experience. I’ve only run six 800s myself, and every one’s been different. It’s a learning curve.

Singer · 04-03-2019 2:03am

Race report!!!

I entered the Lusk 4 Mile mostly because I haven't raced much recently, and it's a decent club race pretty nearby. I casually left Swords to get into Lusk with about 30 minutes to spare before the race, parked the car and strolled over to the race HQ where I deposited a bag and then tried to warm-up. I didn't really get warm, but I eventually met murph_d and we headed over to the start area, tossed off some layers and got ready for the race. Based on my Raheny performance, sub-25 should be do-able. My only other 4 mile race was my famous Space Race in Cape Canaveral where I came second in around 25:46 or so, but on utterly annihilated legs from the Disney marathon, so a PB was obviously in play.

The mayhem (6:01)

The start was very bendy and fast. The cold meant that any running felt fast. A quick couple of turns and a downhill. I barely had time to figure out my pace, but by the time we got down towards the first 180 I was in an ok position with one or two familiar looking faces around me. I had a glance or two at my watch here and pulled back a little as we dropped onto the bypass.

Up to the village (6:12)

What goes up must come down... bending around Lusk on the bypass was very wet and blustery, and I tried to get behind a few people, but generally overtook them as the race went on. The drag up to the village was tough, and I felt like I was close to max by the time I got back up to the start.

Back down (6:10)

I enjoyed the downhills, but was suffering. However I wasn't losing any places. I spotted raycun not too far ahead of me at the 180 and took that as a good sign. The wind and rain seemed to get worse here, but there was nobody to shelter behind so I took it all on the cheek. Things were getting pretty grim but I was keeping pace, and I reckoned I'd get over 5k just over 19 minutes which was a decent run.

The very hard bit at the end (6:15)

This was mostly a lonely run just behind somebody who was just ahead of me. My breathing was all over the place. We started to encounter the tail runners and winding around them was a little annoying... in that everything was annoying. A few positions started to change here, and on the way up to the village I got pretty close to the tail end of a group who had fallen apart (mostly Raheny runners). I didn't have much to finish, but got over the line ok. TBO gave me a shout and I could barely respond. I made my way to the race HQ to get changed, met murph_d, and latter annapr as I was heading back to my car, 'cos I was utterly freezing and needed to get back to Swords ASAP

Finish time: 24:49

Overall, pretty happy with my time and performance. I probably could have bitten down a little more and not-lost as many seconds in the last mile. I put this down to not being very sharp race-wise. However this probably included my 4th fastest 5k ever and was a decent performance overall, so I'm happy enough with it as a measure of where I am right now.

I thought this was a very well organised race. The two loops through the village made things go very fast, and took advantage of the village atmosphere as much as possible. The marshalling etc. was excellent. Well done to Lusk for putting on an excellent race.

Singer · 04-03-2019 9:24am

Other than the Lusk 4 mile, this week featured an almost very good session on the track with Crusaders. The session was 400, 800, 1200, 1200, 800, 400 off varying amounts of standing recovery. I was keeping pace quite well and working my way up through the group, until the end of the second 1200 when it became very clear to me that I needed to do a quick trip to the toilet. I dashed in, did my business, and got back out to catch the second half of the 800. I was pretty annoyed at this so did a fast final 400 which felt great at the time. 1:24, 2:54, 4:26, 4:26, poop, 1:28, 1:18. Overall I'm feeling in decent shape, no real niggles to speak of and I'm losing a bit of weight according to the smart scales I got recently. I've been keeping up the lunchtime pilates on Tuesdays which probably isn't the best prep for the club session (and NIA last week), but easy days easy, hard days hard and all that.

Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
25th February|9.2 miles|8:28|Commute
26th February|9 miles|?|Cru session
27th February|5.8 miles|9:00|Working from home, so an early run after the kids go to school
27th February|4.3 miles|9:08|Second run after working from home
28th February|9.1 miles|9:02|Another commute
2nd March|5.9 miles|?|Pacing 23 minutes at Rivervalley parkrun - 22:57

3rd March|5.4 miles|?|Lusk 4 mile and a little bit of warming up and cooling down

Total: 49 miles

February total: 206 miles

Next week: No races! I've missed some long runs recently, so one of those on Sunday would be good.

Singer · 10-03-2019 7:48pm

A decent week. Most milage since September and two sessions. I was feeling a little tender after the Lusk 4 Mile, just mild aches and pains in my legs and core for a few days, nothing crazy but I skipped pilates as a result and just ran.

Tuesday's session in Cruland was 5 x (600, 200ish jog, 400, 75 seconds standing). My lungs felt like they were holding me back, I was getting uncomfortably out of breath quickly enough and so the 600s were tougher than I was expecting. Made my up through the group and ended up making a new track pal for the session. Paces were 2:10, 1:28, 2:07, 1:26, 2:11, 1:26, 2:11, 1:26, 2:11 and yes... 1:26.

On Thursday evening I was basking in the glory of having decided to take Friday off running, but then read the sub-3 thread, and ended up reading through a load of Tergat's old posts, including one where he very specifically advised against taking days off. So thanks to that damn thread and something Tergat wrote on boards a zillion years ago, I ended up doing a 30 minute run at 6:15AM... I got a nice sunrise out of it anyway.

I couldn't make parkrun on Saturday, but I did have time to do a session in Malahide Castle later on Saturday after dropping the elder kid off at Speech and Drama. I hadn't done much tempo-ish recently, so did 3x10 mins off 3 minutes. It was quite windy and a bit hilly, so paces weren't spectacular - 6:38, 6:45, 6:43.

Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
4th March|9.2 miles|8:54|The usual
5th March|8.1 miles|?|Cru session as above.
6th March|9.1 miles|8:57|Guess what
7th March|11 miles|8:40ish|GPS went weird and gave me a 400m PB on this. Anyway, a commute via Malahide.
8th March|3.8 miles|9:10|Guilted into an early run by Tergat
9th March|8.8 miles|?|Tempo session around Malahide Castle
10th March|13.8 miles|8:53|Pretty slow, cold, windy and niggly 2 hours to/from/around Malahide and Portmarnock. My hip was giving me gyp during and after. Was ambushed from behind by paulie_yifter as I was just about to head back to sunny Swords in Malahide Castle, and we had a quick natter (also I had to speed up to keep up with him).

Total: 64.2 miles

Next week: Can't make the club but will try to squeeze in a session mid-week (important football to watch in the pub on Wednesday, so sacrificing the club for the pub).

AuldManKing · 10-03-2019 10:34pm

Good old Tergat - he's making a good name for himself in the US these days. A lot of good runners with him now.

Singer · 10-03-2019 11:01pm

AuldManKing wrote: »

Good old Tergat - he's making a good name for himself in the US these days. A lot of good runners with him now.

Wow, nice. His posts are pure gold.

Singer · 17-03-2019 11:36pm

Not the best of weeks. Milage was fine, but quality was poor, partially because I was suffering from a cold. Only thing of note was doing a different type of pilates session on Tuesday. My usual trainer was replaced with a guy who was more into stretching and mobility. My takeaway from this session is that my core strength is miserable, and my flexibility is even worse. I am basically a pair of lungs attached rigidly to some leg muscles, and everything else is blocks of wood and glue.

Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
11th March|9.6 miles|8:47|A commute, I guess.
12th March|9.1 miles|8:43|Another commute! This time it was quite windy, and I got to see a Ryanair flight go-around while trying to land. Thankfully most of the winds were coming from the south-west-ish!
13th March|4.3 miles|?|Football to watch in the evening, but I managed to squeeze in a semi-session during working hours. I thought I'd have enough time to do a reasonable amount of 200s around St. Stephen's Green, but just got 10 in. I was using the watch to measure the 200s, and I think it was measuring long. The paces weren't great - around 46 seconds on average, but the watch also had me wading through the duck pond multiple times, so who knows.
14th March|9.2 miles|8:56|Another commute.
15th March|7.8 miles|9:19|I was off work that day, so did a mid-morning jaunt out to Malahide. I woke up with a raw throat and other early signs of a cold. My right upper leg was inexplicably in pain for the first few miles, which was quite uncomfortable. After I got around Malahide Castle the pain subsided, but then I was running into an impressive wind back into Swords.
16th March|7.1 miles|?|The cold kicked in pretty bad after yesterday's run, and I had a miserable evening and night, with not much sleep. Still though, I didn't want to lose fitness, so got out to Rivervalley parkrun and put in a moderate effort (22:00). My cold felt a lot less worse afterwards. Good social occasion as always. I also got to see another plane go-around while jogging home!
17th March|13.7 miles|8:51|A very enjoyable run, I initially intended to head out towards the Fingal 10k/10 mile course, but the wind was kind of windy so I ending up continuing to head up the N1, initially thinking of jogging around Lusk, but I ended up veering off towards Newbridge House and then Turvey Nature Reserve. Turvey Avenue is a dodgy place to run (narrow straight ditch-lined road), but early in the morning there's not much traffic so it didn't make much of a difference. The change to the routine (i.e. not around Malahide/Portmarnock) definitely helped to keep things interesting, overall a very enjoyable run.

Total: 61 miles
Next week: A Cru session on Tuesday anyway. I'm solo-parenting for the weekend so have signed up for parkrun volunteering with the kids. Will be trying to squeeze in some runs around kid activities and generous help from family

Murph_D · 17-03-2019 11:55pm

Singer wrote: »

... I am basically a pair of lungs attached rigidly to some leg muscles, and everything else is blocks of wood and glue.

Hmm. That sounds familiar. At least you have the lungs. And the legs. :pac:

Singer · 18-03-2019 12:16am

Murph_D wrote: »

Hmm. That sounds familiar. At least you have the lungs. And the legs. :pac:

Our recent 800m dual might suggest who has the superior lungs and/or legs

Murph_D · 18-03-2019 12:21am

Singer wrote: »

Our recent 800m dual might suggest who has the superior lungs and/or legs

Yeah, but only for two and a half minutes or so!

Singer · 24-03-2019 10:14pm

Another ok week! Decent Crusaders session on Tuesday. I was solo-parenting for the weekend so treated my younger kid to a parkrun volunteering adventure at Rivervalley. We were barcode scanning. I used the app for the first time, there were a few barcodes that wouldn't scan which the other scanning person (also using the app, but on Android) could scan, otherwise it was fairly idiot proof. Good chats with the regulars (including BG) and lots of introducing the kid to folks, though he did get bored of standing beside me scanning and wandered off at some stage. I mindlessly went home with a barcode in my pocket (!) AND the actual scanner that I put in my pocket and never used (!!!). So I'm probably fired from volunteering

In other running news I registered for the Great Ireland Run (using a terrible Athletics Ireland interface), so I guess that's the next race. I'll do one or two of McMillian's 10k sessions before it.

Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
18th March|6.7 miles|9:12|Easy/hungover bank holiday miles. Did the Fingal 10k course (RIP)
19th March|8.4 miles|?|Crusaders session, getting there, warmup, getting the bus etc. I felt good on this session and was part of a group which helped a lot, but also didn't wreck myself. The session was 4 x 800 off 90 seconds standing, 4 x 400 off 60 seconds standing. Times were 2:52, 2:51, 2:51, 2:52, 1:22, 1:21, 1:20, 1:20.
20th March|10.3 miles|9:13|Enjoyable run home in the relatively warm drizzle
21st March|9.2 miles|8:59|Another commute I guess
22nd March|5.3 miles|9:11|Working a half-day from home, and got in a few miles before picking up the kids from school etc.
22nd March|5.1 miles|9:43|The younger kid has started going to Swords Celtic, so some very jogging around the pitches is a good way to pass the time

23rd March|6.4 miles|8:41|Ran over to the valley and did 6 hill sprints up the parkrun hill of doom and then 8 x 20s strides.
24th March|13.5 miles|8:51|2 hours to/from/around Malahide Castle. Felt tired before going out, just plodded around.

Total: 65.2 miles
Next week: Might give sub-20 at Rivervalley a rattle. I definitely have to show up with the barcode and scanner anyway!

Singer · 31-03-2019 3:40pm

First of interest this week was Tuesday's session with D'Cru, a handy 12x400 off 45s. I got a bit carried away and started out on the faster side, and by half way through I was suffering and slowing a lot. Managed to pick it up a little towards the end - times were 80, 80, 78, 81, 81, 82, 85, 83, 86, 87, 84, 82. A good reminder to ease into sessions.

So, the sub-20 attempt at Rivervalley. I was reasonably rested going into it having just done a few miles the day before, got a good night's sleep
and was up early enough to eat long before running. I even drank some beetroot juice (so gross) and put on my 4% runners before jogging over to Rivervalley, and dropped off the token and scanner before getting some strides in and going right up the front. So I was basically in race mode, and ended up putting in a race level effort. I'd run sub-20 in Rivervalley 3 times before, with a course PB of 19:21 back in the summer of 2017 when most of my PBs were ran. I started out quite aggressively, which is essential in Rivervalley with an immediate downhill. I tend to be pretty slow on the downhill, so this was a case of getting ahead of the faster downhillers and trying not to slow down. This worked and I was just behind the leader by the bottom of the hill, and I went past him not long after. The first km clocked in at 3:32, but that was just 'cos of the hill. My lead lasted until after the first run up the hill-of-doom, which was also attacked reasonably aggressively, when the serial first finisher, a 17 year old footballer who recently started showing up for his weekly run, pulled up beside me for a bit then got ahead of me. This was totally fine though as it gave me a target to chase which is definitely a lot easier than running on my own or in the lead. Second km was 4:01, a lot better than as it included that horrible hill. I kept 3:50ish as the pace and working hard enough before getting to the second downhill, and actually muttered "attack!" out loud to myself, trying hard to take advantage of it, and the third km clicked in at 3:45. So now the worst part, the 4th kilometre which is always tough in a 5k but even worse at Rivervalley as it has the killer hill at the end of it. I started to check the overall time and was pleasantly surprised that I was hitting the hill at about the 14:30 mark - just survive the hill, recover and then push for home. I started encountering the back end of the field so was doing a bit of dodging and moving about which made things a bit harder, but I also got a few shouts of encouragement from volunteers and regulars which helped a bit! Coming into the last 500m or so I knew that sub-19 was there if I pushed, so went pretty hard and finished strong in 18:56, a massive course PB and just the 5th time I've ever run a sub-19 5k. I had to sit down at the end as I was fairly pooped, then had a few chats and then did another couple of laps of the parkrun course with the young fella who beat me and the 3rd placed finisher. I was buzzing-off the performance all day, despite not being a race it was one of my best ever running performances and a great confidence booster! I guess this means that a go at my 10k PB is in play in a couple of weeks at the Great Ireland Run.

Other stuff: No niggles to speak about, I've now had about 2 months of a weekly pilates session which seems to be going well, and my weight is continuing to drop, coming in just under 80kg for the first time in a long time earlier today.

Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
25th March|9.4 miles|8:47|A commute
26th March|9.5 miles|?|To and from Irishtown, some warming up and the Cru session as above.
27th March|9.1 miles|9:05|I had to be on kid duty straight after work, so I ran into work in the morning.
28th March|10 miles|8:56|A nice run home in the warmth of the sun
29th March|3.7 miles|9:33|Just a few very easy miles around St. Stephen's Green at lunch, 10 minutes or so of which with murph_d
30th March|9.6 miles|?|Parkrunning. Did a couple of laps of the course with the rest of the podium once I'd recovered.
31st March|13.4 miles|9:09|The usual 2 hour Sunday run. Grimly hungover at the start, felt a good deal better towards the end.

Total: 64.9 miles

March total: 267 miles (the most since the magical summer of PBs in 2017)

Next week: I should probably a 10k session, which I might do at the weekend instead of a parkrun and do whatever the Cru session is during the week.

Murph_D · 31-03-2019 6:08pm

Well done Brian. Bodes well!

OOnegative · 31-03-2019 6:31pm

Nice going B, as D says 18.56 over a lumpy Rivervalley route bodes very well for you.

Singer · 07-04-2019 5:57pm

Not a great week at all. I was feeling a bit drained on Sunday and Monday after the not-race-but-kinda-a-race parkrun on Saturday. During my commute on Monday I started feeling pretty ropey, and ended up spending the evening with some mild gastroenteritis symptoms and didn't eat dinner. I was better but feeling drained on Tuesday, and ran a slow half-assed session in Cruland. Wasn't really feeling the love for the rest of the week but got the miles in. On Saturday I set out to do the 3x2 mile @ 10k pace session, and threw in the towel at the end of the first rep, which was slow and difficult. I felt inexplicably slow, reckoned I had no hope of finishing the session and so just went for a jog instead. Sunday's long run was also half-assed, not particularly long and quite slow (though it was quite enjoyable easily jogging on the coast and on Portmarnock beach). 5 weeks of 60+ miles with some good quality and no step-back or days off might be too tough for me right now... so the timely good news is this week is a taper week ahead of Sunday's race

OOnegative · 12-04-2019 4:45pm

Best of luck Sunday B, hope the PB chasing proves fruitful. Run wel!!

Singer · 14-04-2019 10:02pm

Race report!!!

The week continued as last week ended, generally feeling lethargic and not in shape. I seriously cut down the milage, taking an entire day off, but most importantly not doing anything fast until parkrun day. I ended up doing Rivervalley parkrun in a fast-ish manner, just as I'd done before both of the sub-40 10ks I'd done (and my marathon PB). I ended up spending Saturday being pretty busy, and spending some time doing gardening, and when going to bed I was a little sore and tired. Maybe not the best state to be in before a race?! Then again, a fast parkrun had served me well before. I got a decent night's sleep, and got a taxi to The Phoenix Park as my better half was shepherding the kids into the city centre where I planned to meet them after the race. I got there way too early, about 9.40 or so. I picked up a coffee and went for a stroll around the park before heading back to the portapotees and getting ready for the race (i.e. stripping off a few layers and putting on my runners). I did a minimal warm-up with a work colleague (including an entire stride!) and then went into the fastest pen, meeting wubble on my entrance and we wished each other good luck. The pen appeared to be full of club runners who didn't look very fast. I nudged forward a bit but settled on not stressing my out too much as there weren't that many people in between me and the start line.

The start bit. 3:45, 3:46, 3:50, 3:49

The start started, and there was a bit of dodging and waving, but it wasn't really too bad. I was happy to wait until the turn before speeding up. I got a shout from my Crusaders coach, and sped up down Ordinance Survey Road. Nothing was bad, paces were fine, settling in. It was occasionally blustery and I tried to head up to the next group a few times and get behind them. Overall I was making my way through, which was good. There were a good few ups and downs here, as expected - the Phoenix Park is not exactly a magical mystery tour to me by now.

The kind of hard bit 4:10, 3:53, 3:46, 3:50

The ups and downs are good fun and all, as is not losing places to the folks around me. By now we had all settled into our paces, but I still occasionally had the strength to move on to the next group or get myself into space. A lot of runners around me also had zero idea how to run a tangent, and I think I made up a few places by just running directly towards the next bend. I started checking my watch a bit much here, and had to snap myself out of it and focus on actually running. The constant turns and changes were a little annoying, but everything was getting annoying here.

The glorious end bit (that wasn't actually very glorious) 3:54, 3:39

The end of a race. The time when you get to cash in on all the training, and bask in the glory of the roaring crowds and excellent time you're running! This basically never happens. Maybe at the end of a marathon there's some sort of delirium that occurs because you've been running relatively controlled for a few hours and can enjoy it for a few minutes. With 10ks this doesn't happen. Things are bad, and they're getting worse. I struggle along with my co-runners. Long after the 9km mark I actually check my watch and figure that if I run merely 4/km pace I'd be at PB pace. Ok, I'll run faster so. This was not easy. The finishing gantry was in sight from an annoying distance away (though everything was annoying by now). Run. Run. Run!

Finish: 38:25 (172/3265) (30 second PB!)

Very happy with the result. 2 months ago, I would have been delighted with a sub-40. A PB only really came into play with the parkrun a couple of weeks ago. There's a funny trend over the last 2 years that getting into PB shape is a lot easier than it was in the past. I guess that's the years of ongoing running kicking in. I also haven't run a bad race in a while, though I'm sure one's coming.

Oh... I ended up in a St. John's Ambulance after the race. Maybe half-way through I started feeling a bit of rubbing on the back of left foot. It got worse, and I kept on ignoring it. If I was out on an easy run, sure, I might stop and take a look at it. During a race!? No chance. After collecting my gear at the bag drop, I decided to take off my shoes... it was a bloody mess. I realised now that it was actually quite sore, after the post-race endorphins had gone away I actually had a bit of an annoying cut on my foot. I went over to the ambulances to get some first aid, and despite my protests they took me a bit too seriously, and put me through a bit of an administrative ordeal before eventually cleaning the blood off my foot with an antiseptic wipe and applying a simple plaster. In fairness I totally get what they do and why they do it, but it seemed a bit OTT for a small cut

Afterwards I met a work colleague and strolled all the way to the quays, where we got taxis to our respective destinations.

Overall... a decent race, well setup and marshalled etc., even though the course had a lot of ups and downs, somehow the wind wasn't as terrible as it could have been.

3 seconds off the McMillan sub-3 equivalent... might need to make my debut on the "The Sub 3 Support Thread" soon

Singer · 14-04-2019 10:08pm

Murph_D · 14-04-2019 11:53pm

Congrats Brian! Can't believe the wind wasn't a factor - you must be in great shape. What caused the cut, your shoe? Are the vaporflys ruined? :eek:

Excellent result.

OOnegative · 15-04-2019 7:57am

Well done B, I knew that Rivervalley parkrun boded well for you, great racing and new PB.

Swashbuckler · 15-04-2019 8:16am

Great stuff B. Well done on the pb

RayCun · 15-04-2019 8:45am

Well done, you were right behind me

shotgunmcos · 15-04-2019 9:29am

Fair play on the PB in the wind. You made it sound almost casual but thats a sign of being in the zone! The Force is strong with this one, get thee indeed to the sub 3 thread..

AuldManKing · 15-04-2019 11:44am

Enjoyed that read - good man and congrats on the PB.

Eye of the Tiger Beer.

Comments