Leader Of The (Mid) Pack

scotindublin

Great stuff with that session J looks like you are going to be in great shape for the RnR 1/2 when it comes around.

Wubble Wubble

Wed 2/8

Plan: 7m easy (9:00 min/mile approx)
Actual: Club session, Porterstown Park

Similar to two weeks ago, the session was to be 4 x 4 mins with 4 min rec, although it wasn't lashing rain this time. The aim was to go a little bit further each time.

My first aim was to get further than the last rep two weeks ago (a little over 1000 metres). This I achieved, running strong just behind a couple of the lads. Delighted with that, especially with my Tuesday session in the bag. A few yards further second time around, and keeping ahead of one of those guys this time. Third run I decided to experiment, staying further back until the coach blew the whistle with a minute to go, then pushing hard to catch the lads way up ahead. I fell about 5 yards short of my rep 2 mark, so back to basics for the last one. I had a good battle with one of the lads as we pushed around the top bend, and the result was I reached about 1045 metres, my best of the night. Over 6 miles in total including warmup, cooldown and strides, as well as running up from the house and back.

Thu 3/8

Plan: 7M alternating 9:00 min/mile and sub-8 min/mile
Actual: 7.3 miles @8:25 min/mile avg.

In other words, swapping in the "easy" night from the Wednesday on the plan. It didn't feel that easy, especially with a big lunch on board from earlier, which finished with loads of ice cream. Ah, such indulgence

Anyway, I left the genteel surrounds of Porterstown Park this time, and headed for the mean streets of Castleknock, entering the Phoenix Park at White's Gate and back out again at Castleknock Gate. Past Myo's and up through Laurel Lodge, with two laps of Tír na nÓg to bring my stint up over the 7 miles for this evening. That 8:25 is of course an average; I had a sub-8 in there early on, and didn't stop the clock at road crossings etc. Nice to have it done and dusted

MisterDrak

WW,

What's the plan for the Rock and Roll ? What you hoping to run time wise ?

Wubble Wubble

MisterDrak wrote: »

WW,

What's the plan for the Rock and Roll ? What you hoping to run time wise ?

Excellent questions D I'll do my best to answer.

Normally, I'd say the R'n'R is "definitely not a PB course". Indeed I've undoubtedly used those exact words repeatedly both here and IRL.

This time however, I may have to make an exception! Since my HM PB (1:37:30) is very soft compared to my 5k and probably even my 10k, I'm more than tempted to go after it. 1:35 or lower feels very achievable, plus I won't be "racing" again between now and DCM.

I'm in Corral 3, which I imagine will leave me somewhere between Killerz and FBOT starting out. So once I keep it fairly steady all the way around, I should be able to make it stick. Alternatively, maybe I'm overthinking the whole thing, and should just go out and run

Wubble Wubble

Fri 4/8 - Rest

Sat 5/8 - 15.9 miles @8:07 min/mile avg.

This was an attempt to emulate the half easy/half PMP session which appears on Sunday on the Asics plan. That was listed as a 14 miler. However, I decided that an old favourite canal run of closer to 16 miles would fit the bill better.

For the first two miles, I wound my way alongside the main road through Laurel Lodge and Carpenterstown, before reaching the canal beside the 12th Lock. I was able to keep a good rhythm heading into town, although there were swans in Cabra and beside Croke Park that I had to nearly tiptoe around, just in case I didn't stop the clock at any pedestrian crossings either.

The route along the canal is mainly flat, with a few short sharp rises around the locks. Overall, it's downhill on the way in, when normally the breeze is behind you, as it was for me. I knew the real fun would start when I reached Newcomen Bridge (North Strand) and turned around. Now I had the breeze against me, and all those little hills that I glided down earlier, I would have to push up on the way back. All of this to be done at sub-8 min mile pace. I gave it a fair old push all the same, and looking back I'm delighted with the actual times, as I tried to ignore the clock and just run by feel on the way back. I slowed down a bit on my way back through the estates, but at that stage it was turning out to be a very satisfactory morning's work. Later on I was back in Croker to see the Dubs put Monaghan to the sword in yet another straightforward outing for them. Tyrone will be a completely different proposition!

Splits: 8:26/8:11/8:14/8:14/8:15/8:10/8:09/8:32/8:00/7:54/7:48/7:45/7:52/8:09/8:02/8:05

Sun 6/8 - Club run, Phoenix Park

Kept towards the back for this morning's trail run, at a steady 8:20 min/mile pace for the most part. Legs felt fine, and I managed a nice pickup to the finish, which was a pleasant surprise after all the mileage this week.

Plan mileage for the week: 38
Actual: 41.5 approx.

Absolutely delighted with how this week went. With the Rock 'N' Roll HM next week, I'll probably just do the club session on Wednesday, and replace the others with easy miles. Thanks for reading!
J.

Wubble Wubble

Immortality Beckons! Week 5 of 16

This week I'm going completely off the Asics plan, as I have a race this week and it doesn't. Hence mileage will be back closer to what I was doing in the first half of the year :cool:

Tue 8/8 - 7.6 miles @8:51/mile average

https://www.strava.com/activities/1123798106

Average above is highly misleading, as mile 1 (9:24), 6 (9:18) and 7 (10:03) were ridiculously slow, while 2-5 were a bit quick. I ran from the house west and over the new bridge, before turning right at Power City and heading downhill past the Blanchardstown Centre to the top of the village. Uphill after crossing the N3, past the National Sports Campus and then left at the top of the road towards Tyrrelstown, before turning left once more to keep Corduff on the left, now heading downhill. Back across the N3 and passing Blanch SC and Millennium Park, to complete the fish shaped loop and head back towards home. Sloppy work overall, but it's miles in the bank in a race week, and I didn't feel under pressure, so job done.

Wed 9/8 - Club session, Porterstown Park

3 x 5 mins with 4:20 jog/walk recoveries. Good numbers for this on a bright and sunny evening in D15. Breeze was against us on the upslope of the grass track, but covering a bit more than my furthest two weeks ago was a nice start. Pushed a bit harder on rep 2 and was rewarded with an extra 20 metres while holding off a chaser - although he had a hard race on Monday, to be fair to him. Final rep I overtook another guy towards the end of the second lap, but was nearly expecting to be caught on the upslope of the third lap. However, when the coach blew the whistle with a minute to go, I was still ahead and picked it up. I heard the "20 seconds" call from him, and from there it was foot to the floor all the way, and I succeeded in keeping yer man at bay with about 1300 metres covered. Very happy with my evening's work

So that's pretty much it until Sunday. A few slow miles planned for tomorrow, and an easy shakeout for the legs before my parkrun volunteering stint on Saturday morning. As for the race itself, I'll try and keep a steady pace throughout, hard as that may be in the closing miles on an uphill course. If I can manage that, and resist the temptation to overthink things in mid race, I should be able to secure another PB.

Wubble Wubble

Thu 10/8 - 6.3 miles @ 8:42 min/mile

A much better run here. Times were a lot more consistent. Even in the small part of Phoenix Park that I visited, lots of runners about. I also bumped into AMK about a mile into my stint, as he was coming to the end of his. Keeping it consistent up the hill from White's Gate to Castleknock College was the main aim for this run, and I was delighted with the 9:00 min pacing here.

Fri 11/8 - Rest

Sat 12/8 - 2.3 miles @ 10:41 m/m

Jog to Porterstown for a lap of the grass perimeter and back.

Sun 13/8 - Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon

Well this was interesting. One way of putting it I suppose! I'll try and elaborate over the next few lines

Pre Race

I wasn't supposed to run this race originally, as I'd normally steer well clear of it. However, as I've since been double booked on the day of the FD10, this one replaced it in the plan. I hadn't run a HM in almost a year, when I PB'd in the Race Series HM (1:37:30). With training going well in recent weeks, I was confident of lowering it today.

Got in nice and early, plenty of time to meet fellow parkrunners, before meeting clubmates S and P for a handy run to the toll and back followed by some strides. We seemed to be waiting an eternity to get going. At the risk of sounding like a cantankerous aul' get, at this stage I can do without most of the fluff that surrounds these things. After all, it's "only" a half marathon, is it not :pac:

Miles 1-3

S was aiming for low to mid 1:30s, so I decided to follow him as we set off. First mile was an easy spin along the quays, although S decided to speed up over the bridge and I had to go into second following him. adrian522 gave me a shout as I passed at around 1 mile; he clearly wasn't racing, so I won't count this one as a scalp Up the hill at Christchurch, I went for even effort, and although it was tough, I still had plenty of energy left, and we got some quick respite with a superfast downhill before turning right onto Cook Street followed by a double left hander back onto the quays. S asked me was I comfortable with the 4:15/km pace, and of course I said "yeah no bother" or words to that effect. We caught up to Marthastew at Heuston Station, another one probably out for a training spin, and in great form as always

Miles 4-6

Clipping along nicely, as we crossed the Luas line and headed for HSQ. But the hill into the Royal Hospital was a lot harder than I expected. We passed another clubmate L here, and continued on after quick hellos. S started leaving me behind towards the top of the hill, and the rest of the journey through the grounds was much the same. I also noticed that I wasn't passing as many people as I had been. Having said that, I felt in reasonable shape as we headed west through Kilmainham and Inchicore, although I could feel a bit more wind in my face heading through Ballyfermot before swinging down the hill into Chapelizod. Bit of water just after the underpass was badly needed, as the sun had come out and I was sweating more than before. I could still see S as we headed over the Liffey and turned right, but that would be the last time I saw him.

Miles 7-9

With the 10k runners having headed into the park at Chapelizod Gate, I now had a far better idea of what was ahead in terms of making up places. Through 10k in 46:48, and keeping it steady (ish) as we went through 7 miles and up the slight drag after the turn for Islandbridge. Even so, I was more than aware that the real stuff wouldn't get going until we entered the Phoenix Park.

Sharp left shortly before 8 miles, and we were now into Part 2. I was still gaining lots of places going up the hill, before turning left for a little out to the Wellington Monument and back. On the way back to Chesterfield Avenue, I noticed L on the other side. I passed her about 4 1/2 miles before? Had I slowed down that much, or was she keeping her pace consistent?

I have to say I found running Mile 9 on the paths boring. I thought it would never end. So much so, I decided to surge around two lads at about 8.75 miles. I knew instantly that that so called power play was a mistake, as it hit my energy levels quite a bit; certainly far more than I thought it would.

Miles 10-13.1

Finally we left the paths and swung left towards the Acres Road and then down the Khyber. I could feel myself weakening quite a bit, so decided to give myself a bit of a breather heading down the hill, before the last few miles. Sure only a parkrun to go! Trouble is, I haven't run a decent parkrun in a long, long time. Mile 11 began with the Military Hill, and although I tried to push on here, I was getting passed repeatedly while only passing one or two. It was actually a relief to get to the top. I then had to drop down into the bushes for a call of nature before we left the S bends. Of course I lost a lot more places here, but I started regaining some lost ground on returning to the road and coming down the hill towards the back of St Mary's Hospital. I thought I was going to rip through the last couple of miles. How wrong I was!

On the lower slopes of the Glen Road, L pulled up alongside, and tried to drag me along with her. I stayed with her for maybe a minute, before she realised trying to carry me was too much, and pushed on alone. Another clubmate B caught up soon after, and I just let him continue straight on. I was just spent at this stage. I had no energy to hang onto either of them. Meanwhile, it seemed as if nearly every person I passed over the previous 6 or 7 miles was getting me back, and I quite simply had no response. Mile 12 finally came, and by now I just wanted to get to the end. I thought I might still be in with a shout of a PB, but I couldn't pick up the pace. Even turning onto the finishing straight, I had nothing. I just wanted to cross the finish line. I did.

1:38:03. Missed my PB by over half a minute. Maybe it's not so soft after all.

Post Race

I found L and B at the finish, and congratulated them on their runs. Then I sat down, and I just felt whatever energy I still had left draining away. Lying back against the water packs, I couldn't move. Thankfully, the gang were able to get me some medical assistance and ring my wife. It felt a bit weird, sitting in a little wheelchair being driven through the crowds and into the tent. They popped me up on a bed and checked my HR and whatnot. Anyway, I was just exhausted, and hyperventilating for a few minutes, plus my legs were really weak and tingling for a bit. My wife found me in the tent, and we made our way out very slowly, until I found a spot to sit down in the grass while she collected my t-shirt for me. The queues for alcohol free Erdinger were too long, so we decided that I would have some full fat Erdingers while watching the hurling later :pac: I'm not feeling that bad now, just really tired, and disappointed that I couldn't get a PB, in what will almost certainly be the only HM I actually race this year.

Thanks for all the support I got today. Lots of shouts on the way around. Sorry I couldn't acknowledge them all

Next

I might have to scale back next week's efforts a little bit, just to be on the safe side. I'm entered in the Race Series HM, but that will be run as a session of some description. Overall, I'm wondering if I'm biting off more than I can chew with my sub-3:30 target. But I suppose the only way to be sure is to try it and see. Thanks for reading! J.

Kennyg71

You're time still suggesting 3.30 is on, just get back on script from here on in. Probably started to fast, had exact same experience in Limerick earlier in year, if you are running harder than LT or on the margin, result massive slow down. Stick to paces for your current objective and it should all come together. Even some of your Club sessions could be grand normally, but with extra strain of Marathon training, you might need to hold back a little, but all things been equal 11 weeks of training, loads of time.

Murph_D

Wow - quite a lot going on there, J!

Sorry about the post-race medical tent stuff. I've never run it but it looks like a brutal course (in the difficulty sense) and I think a PB there was always going to be difficult. That said (and I presume you won't mind me mentioning this) - going out at sub-1:30 pace (on any course, but especially a course like that) seems a little suicidal, surely? I am sure this contributed hugely to your later difficulties.

Plus the pitstop - same in the 10k - is this a regular feature of your racing or a recent affliction, which I assume is related to taking on too much liquid either just before or during the race?

Glad you're OK. I think a sub-3:30 marathon is well within your range, by the way, but you'll have to pace it better than you did today! Recover well and thanks for the blow-by-blow report.

PaulieYifter

Everything the lads said. Tip of the day: stop drinking 90 mins before race starts. You're well on schedule for sub 3:30. Recover well.

The Muppet

Sorry to see you had a tough day J , however I'm sure the experience will stand to you down the road. Recover well.

Unthought Known

That's a tough couple of races J, hope you're now recovered? Don't forget what you're telling the novice group, keep the main thing the main thing.
I've no doubt you can hit 3:30, you've got more drive than most, but maybe lay off the PB attempts until after DCM.

scotindublin

Sounds like a tough day yesterday J a bit of rest and recovery and get back on that sub 3.30 train. That has to be the sole focus now until the marathon!

MisterDrak

" cantankerous aul' get, at this stage I can do without most of the fluff that surrounds these things"

My thoughts exactly


Just to mirror what Murph_D said, your first 2 mile pace seemed way to fast, and you paid for that in the last 2 miles. Its over now, so target the next few races and train well ! 3:30 is well within your abilities, but you need to run sensibly..

Wubble Wubble

Kennyg71 wrote: »

You're time still suggesting 3.30 is on, just get back on script from here on in. Probably started to fast, had exact same experience in Limerick earlier in year, if you are running harder than LT or on the margin, result massive slow down. Stick to paces for your current objective and it should all come together. Even some of your Club sessions could be grand normally, but with extra strain of Marathon training, you might need to hold back a little, but all things been equal 11 weeks of training, loads of time.

Thanks, and well run yourself yesterday. I still think it's doable, but yesterday was a major reality check. For a while I was thinking I was setting the bar too low, given how well the sessions had been going. As you say, still 11 weeks to fix it

Murph_D wrote: »

Wow - quite a lot going on there, J!
Sorry about the post-race medical tent stuff. I've never run it but it looks like a brutal course (in the difficulty sense) and I think a PB there was always going to be difficult. That said (and I presume you won't mind me mentioning this) - going out at sub-1:30 pace (on any course, but especially a course like that) seems a little suicidal, surely? I am sure this contributed hugely to your later difficulties.
Plus the pitstop - same in the 10k - is this a regular feature of your racing or a recent affliction, which I assume is related to taking on too much liquid either just before or during the race?
Glad you're OK. I think a sub-3:30 marathon is well within your range, by the way, but you'll have to pace it better than you did today! Recover well and thanks for the blow-by-blow report.

Very tough going, I'd rank it second to Connemara in difficulty as regards the HMs I've run, yesterday was my 12th on I think seven different courses. That said, I felt a PB was very much on the cards, so I decided to get in there and gamble, especially with the favourable weather conditions at the outset.

Pitstops are a recent affliction, which I'll have to cut out (deliberate pun intended) I don't think I'm doing much differently in terms of hydration on the day, but I might have to revise it nonetheless.

Feeling a bit drained still. FYI, my clubmate got 1:32, so trying to follow him for the duration was ambitious, right enough :rolleyes:

PaulieYifter wrote: »

Everything the lads said. Tip of the day: stop drinking 90 mins before race starts. You're well on schedule for sub 3:30. Recover well.

Thanks P, I'll try that one for the next HM, and hopefully no dramas to report of any kind

The Muppet wrote: »

Sorry to see you had a tough day J , however I'm sure the experience will stand to you down the road. Recover well.

Thanks T, it certainly was an experience, which I'll hopefully learn from! A quieter week is on the cards for sure

Unthought Known wrote: »

That's a tough couple of races J, hope you're now recovered? Don't forget what you're telling the novice group, keep the main thing the main thing.
I've no doubt you can hit 3:30, you've got more drive than most, but maybe lay off the PB attempts until after DCM.

Thanks A, that's the last actual racing done until the big day. Three races in a little over a month, two of which were very tough (Fingal was only tough in my mind) may or may not turn out to have been the best strategy. Having said that, there's plenty of time to get the entire focus on the training.

scotindublin wrote: »

Sounds like a tough day yesterday J a bit of rest and recovery and get back on that sub 3.30 train. That has to be the sole focus now until the marathon!

Thanks C, if I'd paced it better who knows, but now the goal is getting closer and all the running distractions are out of the way

MisterDrak wrote: »

" cantankerous aul' get, at this stage I can do without most of the fluff that surrounds these things"
My thoughts exactly

Just to mirror what Murph_D said, your first 2 mile pace seemed way to fast, and you paid for that in the last 2 miles. Its over now, so target the next few races and train well ! 3:30 is well within your abilities, but you need to run sensibly..

Nice one, when you haven't run a HM for a while it seems so slow at the beginning. It's actually my favourite distance, because it's deceptively tricky to get right, and (as I discovered first hand yesterday) ill discipline can be costly!

annapr

Tough day for you out there yesterday, J and a bloody tough course. Lots of learning in it though, so take that positive and take it easy this week too.

Also, even with all the pain, you only missed your pb by 30 seconds??? That's not so bad.

Wubble Wubble

Immortality Beckons! Week 6 of 16

Two days on from Sunday's scare, I'm feeling a lot more energetic, but not so much that I'm going to get out for a run this evening. Those 200s can wait at least another week :pac:

I'm going to scrub the first half of the week at least. Work night out on Thursday, so there might be an easy run Friday and/or a super slow parkrun on Saturday. That said, I'm prepared to let the full week slide if necessary. I'm still far enough out that I can probably get away with doing such a thing.

Couple of other observations from recent days:-

(1) I have to be much more ready to change my gameplan if necessary. Plan B was staring me in the face after about 6k, and I didn't go with it :rolleyes:Instead of trying to stay with S going through the Royal Hospital, I should have stayed back with L, and let him go off (which he did soon afterwards anyway, taking about 5 minutes out of me in the second half) Had I done so, I would have finished the race in far better shape.

(2) Looking back at my mileage, I've covered more mileage in the last 3 weeks (108/109) than the previous four (102). Possibly this contributed to my downfall.

(3) No way I'm going to shell out for the race photos. There's two of me at the finish being chased by some geezer with his shirt off. Apart from the fact that they're ridiculously expensive IMO, I look desperate.

diego_b

Just catching up on the logs after a few weeks break, tough day at the office there at the RnR WW. You've got plenty of good advice up above there. It's a tough and tricky course for sure. Not sure what the new course is like for the race series but possibly you could try for a pb again there if it's favourable course/conditions. Pace your own race using a pace band and stick to it until at least 10 miles when hopefully you're in for a strong finish and then can parkrun it your level best home. Mind yourself this week as that half marathon effort will linger in the system for a few weeks.

Wubble Wubble

diego_b wrote: »

Just catching up on the logs after a few weeks break, tough day at the office there at the RnR WW. You've got plenty of good advice up above there. It's a tough and tricky course for sure. Not sure what the new course is like for the race series but possibly you could try for a pb again there if it's favourable course/conditions. Pace your own race using a pace band and stick to it until at least 10 miles when hopefully you're in for a strong finish and then can parkrun it your level best home. Mind yourself this week as that half marathon effort will linger in the system for a few weeks.

Thanks D, ah I'd love to think I could crack it in the Race Series again, not this year I'm afraid! It's a tough old course, a lot of uphill until you reach the high point at the 7 mile mark, then some fast miles on the way back in. Plus it's only 5 weeks out, so the coach would rather we didn't race it. It'll probably be PMP or above for the first half or so and then pick up a bit for the rest.

Annie get your Run

Just catching up too J. That course has eaten me up and spit me out before, the memories still give me nightmares... I'm not sure what the overall elevation is but the quays are uphill all the way, uphill through Kilmainham, uphill from Chapoliziod into the park, lots of uphills in the park itself, it's hill city!! Hope you're recovering well now and glad to hear that's the last race between now and DCM. Eyes on the prize

Wubble Wubble

Annie get your Run wrote: »

Just catching up too J. That course has eaten me up and spit me out before, the memories still give me nightmares... I'm not sure what the overall elevation is but the quays are uphill all the way, uphill through Kilmainham, uphill from Chapoliziod into the park, lots of uphills in the park itself, it's hill city!! Hope you're recovering well now and glad to hear that's the last race between now and DCM. Eyes on the prize

Thanks AM. A lot of it was my own fault, to be fair :rolleyes: although there's a ridiculous amount of hills involved, as well as it being a point-to-point course and largely into the breeze. Having said that, as we went downhill from Ballyfermot under the N4 into Chapelizod, I was thinking of having to run up that hill after 10 miles of DCM

Still on 0 miles for the week

Yes all roads now lead to DCM, as far as actual racing goes! Belated congrats on your 50th parkrun BTW

Murph_D

Park it and put out of your mind forever. Except for the learnings of course. You'll be grand. Easy week for sure, maybe 10 days, then back on the horse. I'd stick to the 3:30. You've earned that target, regardless of what happened last week.

Singer

You didn't have to trash yourself in a race to show the novices how not to do it, but fair play... :pac:

You've had some good advice here already. Regardless of the disappointing HM, you're in great shape to go for a cracking DCM.

Wubble Wubble

Sat 19/8 - 7.1 miles @8:25/mi

I was lying in bed long enough thinking about how I'd approach this, so in the end I just got out and did it. I had to be out early anyway (or not at all), as we had visitors later. I just kept it to the Carpenterstown loop, so it would be a shorter journey home if I had to pull the plug. Straightforward enough as it turned out, and I spotted AMK starting out on his 20 miler as I was on my last lap.

Sun 20/8 - Club run, Phoenix Park

Steady and comfortable trail run in good company, as I covered a little over 10k while not really feeling under much pressure. I probably could have gone for longer, but my wife needed the car, and maybe an extra few miles could have made the seas a lot more choppy than they needed to be this morning. Still 10 weeks to go

Wubble Wubble

Immortality Beckons! Week 7 of 16

Working my way back into the grand plan. Agreed that the goal of sub 3:30 is still very much achievable.

Ok, so over 2500 managed this in DCM 2016 alone, so to many of you reading here, it probably doesn't amount to a whole pile. It'll still be a big achievement in my book, and that's all that matters

That said, I'm thinking along the lines of limiting myself to one midweek session this time, just to fully complete the recovery, especially as I've another Saturday morning LSR planned. Sunday will be a rest day this week.

Wubble Wubble

Tue 22/8 - 10.5 miles @8:59/mi

So I decided as above that it would be the one session this week, and that it would be with clubmates, rather than floundering through 200m reps on my own.

With this in mind, I ran down to White's Gate to start a mini loop of the Phoenix Park, very similar to the old Irish Runner 5 Mile course. PP was a hive of activity tonight. I don't think I've ever randomly bumped into so many people I know in the course of a run. For example, three clubmates (including AMK) separately within a quarter of a mile, and also I passed scotindublin twice on my rounds.

It was hard enough in the warm conditions, but overall I was happy with this. Overall the pace was bang on.

Wed 23/8 - Club session, Porterstown Park

Even on the jog from the house, my legs felt very heavy, and the warmup seemed much the same. The session itself was 3 x 5 mins with 4 mins approx. jog/walk recoveries.

Throughout the session, I felt like I was dragging my body around. First two reps, I was 50+ metres short of my best from two weeks ago. At least I managed to keep John Todd behind me for those ones. In the last rep, a new lady runner cruised past me on the second lap, and it didn't take long before John followed suit. I finished up with about 1220 metres completed, my shortest distance completed of the three. I felt totally devoid of energy. Maybe the after effects of the R'N'R were still lingering? Whether that was true or not, not a good night's work.

Thu 24/8 - 8.1 miles @8:21/mi

Since my last log entry, to cut a long story short, it now turns out I won't have time to run an LSR on Saturday. I had been toying with the idea of running a 17 mile LSR (as per plan) on Friday evening, but having had a chat with the coach after Wednesday's session, I decided to scrap it, and head out this evening instead.

I kept it to D15. Even though the only hills to speak of were the crossings of Archbishop Troy bridge, it was another struggle in the sticky conditions. I suppose if nothing else it showed that trying a 17 mile tomorrow would have been crazy, even at 9:00/mi pace or above. Maybe a weekend free of running will give me the mental and physical boost I need to give me an extra push. 24 miles give or take for the week.

Wubble Wubble

Immortality Beckons! Week 8 of 16

The decision to have a weekend free of running turned out to be a wise one. Although I did make an appearance at the FD10, it was purely in a supporting capacity. A lot of clubmates were in action, and I also spotted quite a few Boardsies such as adrian522, Singer, Murph_D and Marthastew. Unfortunately, I've no idea what most of the 2017 Novices from here look like. To be fair, I wouldn't be remotely in the same class as AGYR or aquinn, though I tried my best

Mon 28/8 - Solo session, Porterstown Park

I'm planning to get the club session in on Wednesday too, so I decided to swap in Tuesday's session from the Asics plan, and make tomorrow a rest day instead.

1M w/u + 4 x 1600m at 10k pace (7:00) with 400m walk/jog recs + 1M c/d. Hmmm. We went to a wedding on Saturday, and on Sunday we watched with glee as the Dubs qualified for another All Ireland final, so this was going to be a bit of a shock to the system, that was for sure.

The first rep saw me head off at a sharp enough pace, something like 1:35 for the opening lap. I deliberately slowed down quite a bit from there on, and managed to get the 7:00 for that stint. However, it wasn't easy going on the wet grass track, and the wind was picking up a bit too. Walk/jog lap took me about 3 minutes. Second rep was a major struggle, and a shocking 7:20 was the outcome. I decided to have a standing recovery this time instead, and push the time out to about 3:30, as I wasn't feeling the love at all, and I was finding my breathing difficult to control. That said, I got it back to 7:10 for the penultimate stint. With the rain getting heavier, the final effort was a disappointing 7:20, even though I got a bit of shove on for the last lap. I cut the cooldown short, dragging my wet and sweaty mass the kilometre or so straight home instead of 400m rec + 1M c/d. Doesn't get much easier from here I'm afraid!

Murph_D

I reckon grass is easily worth an extra 10 secs per mile (probably more), so your session was closer than you think to the intented effort.

Thanks for the shouts the other day, J, much appreciated!

PaulieYifter

Feck the immortality from running - you're a celeb now as one part of the Dubs' greatest husband and wife fan club

aquinn

A celeb?

Me too as made the FD 10 mile video. Delighted with myself.