Leader Of The (Mid) Pack

Neady83

Great racing WW and a well deserved podium

Do you think that being on the fence about doing the race took the pressure off you a little bit and maybe helped get you your best 5km time this year? I often wonder if sometimes we put too much pressure on ourselves to hit targets in races by over preparing and maybe sabotaging ourselves in the process.

skyblue46

Great racing J. Congrats on picking up the prizes too. I would have liked to do it but had to work...

Wubble Wubble

quickbeam wrote: »

Congrats, WW! Top age grade is a great achievement!

Thanks F, first time for everything, so they say! Hopefully not the last

healy1835 wrote: »

So you're the Golden Fleece!!

How could one ever imagine such a thing to be true? :pac:

scotindublin wrote: »

Well done J a good solid outing!

Thanks C, solid compared to most recent outings all right!

Annie get your Run wrote: »

Congrats!!

Thanks AM, I'm still enjoying my little moment :pac:

Murph_D wrote: »

Nice one, J, congrats!

Would love to do this race as it's very local but always seem to be away. Next year hopefully!

Thanks D, not an easy course with most of the first half uphill and then an uphill finish. Fingers crossed!

Sheep1978 wrote: »

Good stuff J. Well done

Thanks D, you're getting back into it well yourself the last while.

ariana` wrote: »

Super racing. It sounds like despite doubts about what shape you're in physically, mentally you on fire which is very impressive! Fantastic to walk away with a couple of prizes too - congratulations, well deserved!

Thanks E. That does not normally happen! Unusually I had no thoughts of slowing down or stepping off. The prizes were great to bring home too!

eyrie wrote: »

Fantastic going, well done! Lovely result to get the category win. I like your scientific strategy too - I'm definitely going to try this out in a 5k soon, if I ever do another one

Thanks C, I'd definitely recommend trying it out. Especially for those of us fairly new to this, most of us here don't really have a clue how far or how fast we can go. Sometimes it's good to just RLF and not worry too much about the outcome

aquinn wrote: »

Good man J. I run that route frequently and I wouldn't fancy racing it.

You did extremely well. Congratulations on the prize.

Thanks A, you'd be well able for it! Next year

Baby75 wrote: »

Well done again J, and congratulations on the age category seen the updated time on Strava and nice one even better than you thought that is brilliant

Thanks N, not bad for an aul man yeah what happened there was (I think) they mixed my time up with the next fella's when they were printing the result sheets. Either that I mistook the 2 for a 7 (no glasses!)

OOnegative wrote: »

Well done WW, great stuff.

Thanks B, a nice steady run from yourself back on home ground. Keep up the good work for Koln.

Neady83 wrote: »

Great racing WW and a well deserved podium

Do you think that being on the fence about doing the race took the pressure off you a little bit and maybe helped get you your best 5km time this year? I often wonder if sometimes we put too much pressure on ourselves to hit targets in races by over preparing and maybe sabotaging ourselves in the process.

Yes! Thanks S. It's certainly true where I'm concerned, particularly if I'm coming up to any kind of "goal" race. Too much setting targets in advance has without a doubt affected a lot of my race performances over the years. In contrast, Sunday was real back to basics stuff. Plus I never for one second thought I'd be competing for a category prize, let alone picking up first!

skyblue46 wrote: »

Great racing J. Congrats on picking up the prizes too. I would have liked to do it but had to work...

Thanks S, really enjoyed it! I think you'd have done very well yourself. Maybe next time.

---

To fill in the gaps which have emerged since Sunday....

Mon 30/7 - Rest

Tue 31/7 - 7.46 miles@8:29/mi

Great run this. Much cooler. Bit of a breeze, but very manageable. Through Laurel Lodge down to the Phoenix Park, around the Chesterfield Avenue/Furze Road/Ordnance Survey Road triangle, then back out through White's Gate. The drag up to Carpenterstown was a bit tiring, but my overall pace didn't drop, so I'm very happy with how this one went.

July Review

This one basically consists of two races. Both in Dublin 3, but what a contrast in outcomes! Interestingly enough, I'm fairly sure that Clontarf HM participants were advised to park in the OBI on at least one occasion in previous years.

Clontarf was a real eye opener, in more ways than one. Never before have I tried to race in such heat (22 deg C at the start, and rising throughout the first 8 miles or so) and I've no wish to repeat such an experience. As Tom alluded to a few pages back, some of us just aren't built to handle such conditions. It appears as if I fall into this category. So if we've a day like that again, I'll definitely drop to a shorter distance, if the option is available. Otherwise, I can live with not taking the start line.

With so little running activity in the three week gap between races (apart from parkrun 99 in Poolbeg) I hadn't a notion how the Marino race would go. Just get out and do it. And I did. Not quite waltzing my way to a season's best, but this tune was in my head all week

As Neady mentions above, we do overthink these things a lot of the time. If I focus less on time targets, and concentrate on other things, such as better diet and more consistent mileage and pacing, the improvements in time will hopefully follow.

Next up I'll be going for the parkrun century, in Porterstown on Saturday morning, followed by the Kilcock 10 Mile on the 19th. Till August, thanks for reading! J.

Baby75

LOL that would be me as well without my glasses

Wubble Wubble

Wed 1/8 - Club session, Porterstown Park

This was my first time in a month to attend one of these sessions, as GAA and race marshalling took precedence. With this in mind, in hindsight I pushed too hard on the uphill runs alongside the hedges. The rest of the session was 4/3/4/3 (2 min recs) at 5k pace on the grass track. I was in a group with four others for the opening 4 min stint. Hard work, but not too bad until I started trying to go clear near the end. Bad move. I was pretty much out of gas after that, and ended up falling back and completing the session alone. 5.5 miles or so in total, including running up and back.

Thu 2/8 - 7.41 miles@8:37/mi

Basically this was Tuesday's run route in reverse. I was happier with this one though, as my split times were more consistent (fastest 8:23, slowest 8:49). Tuesday had a full minute deviation between fastest and slowest :rolleyes: It only rained for about two minutes, but when I got home, due to the humidity I looked as if I'd run through a rainstorm for the hour plus!

Fri 3/8 - Rest

Sat 4/8 - Porterstown parkrun - Salut El Centurión!

I'd been looking forward to this for quite some time, particularly as I got into the 90s in terms of parkruns completed. Amazingly, I managed to avoid missing out due to injury either picked up while running or due to some bizarre domestic accident. Yes, I AM that clumsy.

I'd given the gang the heads up the previous week, while getting drenched in the course of my volunteering stint. Arrived bright and early, to see a nice surprise, as one of the regulars made a little chocolate and Guinness cake to mark the occasion. Easy warmup lap, then it was time to welcome Annie Get Your Run back to Porterstown

Unlike (for example) St Anne's and Malahide, we don't have a huge percentage of milestone runners yet. So when someone does reach 50 or 100, chances are they'll have the spotlight to themselves plus we're not expected to dance around while wearing a feather boa :pac::pac: Great to get the shout out before the off.

Lap 1

I started right at the front, to be joined by a fresh from his holidays Bernard. Three other lads took off; we didn't try to follow them. Luckily enough, I was in a group for this - due to the smaller numbers you can often end up isolated. I was overtaken at the car park by a Spanish guy, while Tom and another fella were close behind. Hard going, but holding onto 6th at the end of this one.

Lap 2

Tough work trying to keep Bernard within range, even on the downhill section. Uphill was more challenging again, as Tom moved ahead to leave me in 7th. Quick look behind. The other fella had fallen off the back at some stage, so this was it really. If I was to beat my parkrun PB (20:36), most likely I would have to finish ahead of Bernard and/or Tom. Times were called out at the end of this lap. I went through in 13:50 - it was still on!

Lap 3

A big effort was needed in order to mark the century. The Spaniard was fading, and I gained back a place as I overtook him at the first corner. By now, Tom had cleared Bernard, who seemed to be flagging as well. I was making up some ground, but seemingly not fast enough! There's about a kilometre from the start of the first shorter uphill to the finish. 4 minutes or so left. Push up the steepest part of the course - only lasts a few seconds, but you do feel it. The last climb to the car park was draining me, but I still had some energy for a final push. All flat or downhill to the finish. Round the last two corners, I gave it plenty of welly down the straight, and although I was catching Bernard, he had enough of a gap to hold me off. My wife recorded my finish. The noises out of me! "HOW LONG? HOW LONG? TOYIM?" :pac:

I really enjoyed cake and hot chocolate at the finish. It's a regular thing at Porterstown, but a lot of us only really appreciate it when visiting other parkruns that don't have such luxuries so close at hand. It being my 100th, it was probably the most enjoyable ever. I'm also the first in the club to reach the century, so a tiny bit of history there

My first parkrun was in Malahide, way back in the mists of May 2013, so it's been quite some time in the making. Worth the wait though. Interestingly enough, today I got a time of 20:36, equalling my parkrun PB, set in my 50th, at Porterstown in May 2016. One more second :pac:

Sun 5/8 - Rest

Mon 6/8 - 11.36 miles@9:54/mi

Having taken yesterday off from running, I had it in mind to redress the balance today. Feeling very tired and hungover though, so I wasn't sure I'd even be able to complete this. Into the Phoenix Park at White's Gate, I took off to the left to follow the trails around. I don't normally run on these. The miles ticked by much easier, as I get bored sometimes just sticking to the paths. Pace varied between slow and very slow, but I managed the climbs as comfortably as could be expected. Finished on the MSB trails between Knockmaroon Gate and Farmleigh, before heading back out for home. Delighted to have so many miles in the bank!

I'm not entered in the Rock 'N' Roll half this year. Best of luck to all of you who are lining up. Hopefully I'll be out supporting somewhere along the route. Next for me is the Kilcock 10 mile, where a very old and slow PB (74:13, March 2016) needs some improvement. Thanks for reading. J.

skyblue46

Well done on hitting the century mark J. I'll see you in Kilcock. I have an older and slower PB to improve on. :-)

Sheep1978

Well done on the the 100 J

diego_b

Congrats on the 100 up and equaling your pb, them damn seconds!

Murph_D

Congrats J. Eerie that you equaled the 50 milestone time!

Annie get your Run

Wubble Wubble wrote: »

The last climb to the car park was draining me, but I still had some energy for a final push. All flat or downhill to the finish. Round the last two corners, I gave it plenty of welly down the straight, and although I was catching Bernard, he had enough of a gap to hold me off.

Well done!!! Two guys passed me on the car park stretch and I turned when I got to the top to see if I could see you, the aim being not to be lapped by WW :pac: you must have flown up that section because you passed me at the exercise machines and then tore down to the finish. The cake was delicious .



I must admit to being slight bemused by the RD not starting the run until next weeks roster was filled with volunteers, it worked!

ariana`

Congratulations on the big milestone. It's quite bizarre how you matched your PB set at your 50th - a PB would've been nice but you can't plan that kind of symmetry, i think it's kinda cool

Huzzah!

Congrats on the 100!

Sunny Dayz

Congrats on 100 parkruns!

eyrie

A super milestone, well done! And done in style too - great to match the PB. It sounds like a really lovely morning I must say

Wubble Wubble

skyblue46 wrote: »

Well done on hitting the century mark J. I'll see you in Kilcock. I have an older and slower PB to improve on. :-)

Absolutely! No doubt you'll significantly improve on yours.

Sheep1978 wrote: »

Well done on the the 100 J

Thanks D, hopefully many more to follow!

diego_b wrote: »

Congrats on the 100 up and equaling your pb, them damn seconds!

Thanks D, you always wonder in that situation whether you pushed hard enough. I remember equalling my PB in a parkrun, two weeks before I beat it to set my new PB in my 50th.

Murph_D wrote: »

Congrats J. Eerie that you equaled the 50 milestone time!

Yes there's no way I was aiming to achieve such a thing. Now if I do it again in my 150th....:eek:

Annie get your Run wrote: »

Well done!!! Two guys passed me on the car park stretch and I turned when I got to the top to see if I could see you, the aim being not to be lapped by WW :pac: you must have flown up that section because you passed me at the exercise machines and then tore down to the finish. The cake was delicious .



I must admit to being slight bemused by the RD not starting the run until next weeks roster was filled with volunteers, it worked!

Thanks again AM, delighted that you were able to make it yes I decided I might as well give it a go for the last part, at that stage there was only about two minutes left. Nobody was going to catch me, so I might as well try catch the one or two ahead. Give the fans what they want and all that

I'll pass on your compliments to Lisa next time I see her - she makes cakes like that all the time and they always go down a treat.

We decided to try the advance roster filling some time ago, as we believed it would be easier than trying to chase people via emails and FB during the week. Still not easy at this time of year!

ariana` wrote: »

Congratulations on the big milestone. It's quite bizarre how you matched your PB set at your 50th - a PB would've been nice but you can't plan that kind of symmetry, i think it's kinda cool

Huzzah! wrote: »

Congrats on the 100!

Sunny Dayz wrote: »

Congrats on 100 parkruns!

eyrie wrote: »

A super milestone, well done! And done in style too - great to match the PB. It sounds like a really lovely morning I must say

Thanks so much everyone, like I say we don't have many centurions at Porterstown yet, so it was a fairly big deal. Can I add that I ran by feel? Sure if I was using the watch I wouldn't have equalled my 50th time :pac: One of my best mornings of running, without a doubt. Certainly my favourite this year, with a best 5k time of 2018

MY BAD

Wow! Well done on 100 parkruns, that's some milestone.

Wubble Wubble

Tue 7/8 - 6.01 miles@9:01/mi

Tired miles around Carpenterstown and Porterstown.

Wed 8/8 - Club session, Porterstown Park

Even though I learned the lessons from last week, for example not going hell for leather on the opening hedge loops, I didn't have a great deal of energy for the 4/3/4/3 around the grass track (last week it was actually 5/4/3/2). I never got much of a rhythm going, being stuck running on my own between people for the entire 20 minutes. Feeling a bit of a niggle when I got home as well.

Thu 9/8 - Rest

Badly needed.

Fri 10/8 - Rest

Sat 11/8 - Porterstown parkrun

After last week's centenary celebrations, this was a more run of the mill effort. I let Bernard off, and decided to run with Tom for the first lap and a half. At the bottom of the drag to the car park, I decided I'd no more interest in holding the pace, even though last week was considerably quicker. Having let Tom go off, the only thing I was concerned about was whether anyone would catch me on the last lap. Thankfully, I didn't slow down that much. 7th place in a time of 21:12. Still and all, a nice way to start a day where the Dubs qualified for another All Ireland final

Sun 12/8 - No running

I had intended to be out supporting along the Rock 'N' Roll route anyway, so when the club were looking for stewards around Castleknock College, I put my hand up.

Lots of familiar faces taking part, both Boardsie and non. I spotted a few from here, such as Adrian and Marthastew, but no doubt I missed a lot more. KC and I had a nightmare trying to get people safely through the turn into the back entrance of the college. On a wet morning, runners had to negotiate a sharp enough left hander, onto an uneven surface with a metal spike (receiver for the gate) sticking up out of the ground. I'm not sure exactly how many fell here, but I'd say it was between 10 and 15. No serious damage done there as far as I could make out, but we heard some poor girl had a seizure just down the road from us.

I was just relieved when we finally got the nod to go home. I had planned to get a few easy miles in before watching the Reds take West Ham apart, but I decided to just relax on the couch instead, and push those easy miles out to tomorrow.

Next week brings up the Kilcock 10 mile; a new race, on what looks like a fast and flat course with PB potential, particularly if the weather plays ball. Hope to see some of you there. Thanks for reading. J.

ReeReeG

The shouts of "slippy here" were helpful  fair play for volunteering at it!

The Black Oil

Belated centenarianness...

Got to say well done to a 250 man the other day.

Wubble Wubble

ReeReeG wrote: »

The shouts of "slippy here" were helpful  fair play for volunteering at it!

Thanks V, we were driven demented repeating ourselves for going on 2 hours! Well done you for getting through it

The Black Oil wrote: »

Belated centenarianness...

Got to say well done to a 250 man the other day.

Cheers B, I'm only the third man to run his 100th parkrun in Porterstown. Some dedication from the 250 parkrun milestone man of Malahide. Given that it took me over five years to run 100, I could be (even more of) an aul' crock before I get anywhere near the 250 :pac:


Mon 13/8 - 8.42 miles@8:04/mi

As mentioned above, I decided to do Sunday's run today. Well that was the plan anyway. However, on arriving home from work, I wasn't full of the joys thinking about a shuffle down to Phoenix Park and back, while dodging around the ever increasing amounts of fencing and barriers. Then my wife came up with a brainwave - "Take the car to St. Catherine's"

I don't think I'd run there since my birthday last year, but it's a park we like, and we regularly bring the dogs there. Got there early evening, sunny but not too hot, bit sticky. First two miles were an average of 8:40ish around the flat rectangle at the top of the park, and then down the hill from the dog run. Plan then was to work my way back to the dressing rooms via the twisty little BMX hill. That scheme was abandoned when clubmate Gerry appeared from the Lucan direction. So the outcome was we crossed the Liffey and ended up going on a much hillier route than I planned, into Lucan village and back to St Catherine's via the Laraghcon climb. Toughest one of all was the hill at the bottom of the forest trail. That got the old blood pumping! Coming to the end of the forest, I saw BrownEyes coming down BMX hill and heading for the bottom of the park. She got a shock when I gave her a shout from up on the trail! :pac:
Anyway, great run with G, with a lot more enjoyment and variety that I would have got from running alone.

Tue 14/8 - Rest

Wed 15/8 - Club session, Porterstown Park

Sleep has been particularly bad the last two nights, and getting absolutely drenched going home from work into the bargain, meant I wasn't in much of a humour for this. However, once I got going I was fine. Much more energy tonight, helped I'd say by eating a bit better than last week. 5 miles or so for the night.

Like I said, diet has been a bit better of late, Sunday's race helping to focus the mind. Poker on Friday night though, so although I'll be well hydrated, eating well might take a backseat for an evening :pac: sure you have to live your life too don't you :pac::pac:

Wubble Wubble

Thu 16/8 - Rest

Fri 17/8 - "Rest"

Poker night. Plenty of beer, not so much in the way of food. I won :pac:

Sat 18/8 - 3.62 miles@10:12/mi

I left this until after parkrun volunteering. Home shortly after 10:30, to sit down himming and hawwing about when (or if!) I was going to run today. Shortly before 11, I decided I couldn't have three rest days in a row. That said, I probably would have been faster running while drinking. Better than nothing I suppose. Easy days easy, hard days hard

Sun 19/8 - Kilcock 10 From 10

10 weeks from this year's DCM (which I'm not running), I made the short trip West for this new race in North County Kildare. St Cocas AC had done a fine job with their race information, and everything looked shipshape in advance.

Met Skyblue, BrownEyes and RedRunner during and after warmups around the track. All in good form, ready to roll! Following briefings, we were directed out onto the main road for the start.

Miles 1-3

I began proceedings following the 70 min pacers with Graham and Seán. It wasn't long though, before S had enough of this slow racing speed and moved on ahead I decided to keep the balloons in close proximity. These miles were fairly straightforward apart from a short drag up towards the motorway bridge, but then we'd a long slow downhill to follow.

Miles 4-6

Continuing south, where there was a slight breeze against us but I was still in control through Mile 4, before we took a left and started heading back east in the general direction of Maynooth. We'd lost a few from the group, and some others had fallen back and passed through, but I was happy with how it was going at that stage, Through halfway, and then left past a large church and bemused parishioners, who were hardly expecting a bunch of top athletes to be whizzing past them Meanwhile, my comment to S beforehand about poker night maybe coming back to bite me in the second half, seemed to be coming to pass, as I was struggling to hang on.

Miles 7-8

Even though the pacers weren't speeding up at all, it was through here that I started slipping off. Not instantly, but slowly I was dropping back and starting to feel the pinch. Oddly enough, my legs weren't feeling too bad, but breathing was suffering. Thankfully the sun had almost entirely remained behind the clouds! I had got by a Dunshaughlin female just before the water station, and caught up to her male clubmate soon after. At this stage I'm thinking I have to get something from this. Crossing the M4, we reached the 7 mile mark, and it's seemingly just me and Dunshaughlin. Towards the end of Mile 8, we crossed a canal bridge, and then it was a sharp left onto the canal greenway.

Miles 9-10

Wooof. The new section of the Royal Canal Greenway might be nice to walk along, but for this race it was bleaten' horrendous! Wind straight in our faces. I skipped the unexpected 8 mile water station and continued on after Dunshaughlin. Caught him about a quarter of a mile further on, and then I was thinking how many more could I catch, even though the pain was really starting to bite. The pacers were far in the distance now. But with a PB of 1:14 (Brian Boru, 2016) surely I could have that to take away. I was slowly gaining on another fella, but as we went through 9 miles, the pain was increasing. For most of the last mile, I could see the finish in the distance. COME ON! Tried to pick up the pace again, but to my great annoyance, Dunshaughlin passed me back with about half a mile remaining. One or two others had got by me as well, then Dunboyne Rob cruised by with about 300 metres left. Finish line is ever closer now, and then somebody else appeared on my right. Sprint for the line will ya!

"And it's Bernard Brogan...he's in front of the goal...he can't miss, he hasn't"
(Micheál O'Hehir, commenting on Dublin v Kerry, 1977)

Burned yer man in the last few yards (my sister got a shot of me airborne!) and through the finish in a chip time of 1:11:33. YES!! First PB of the year, by well over 2 minutes. Walked up to the school with my little nieces, to tuck into some of the massive spread up there. Very impressed with the overall organisation. I'll definitely be back! Thanks for reading. J.

MY BAD

Congratulations on you pb

OOnegative

Good man J, PB & winning the poker over the weekend, great stuff.

Huzzah!

Woot. Congrats on the PB!

Pomplamousse

Congrats:D

ThebitterLemon

Great run and well done for toughing it out

TbL

scotindublin

Great PB J well done!

Murph_D

Congrats J. Thought that number looked familiar - my exact PB time as well, so brilliantly run!

Wubble Wubble

Mellow Yellow 26.2 wrote: »

Congratulations on you pb

OOnegative wrote: »

Good man J, PB & winning the poker over the weekend, great stuff.

Huzzah! wrote: »

Woot. Congrats on the PB!

Pomplamousse wrote: »

Congrats:D

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Great run and well done for toughing it out

TbL

scotindublin wrote: »

Great PB J well done!

Murph_D wrote: »

Congrats J. Thought that number looked familiar - my exact PB time as well, so brilliantly run!

Thanks a million to all of you. Overall, 127/499 (52/137 M40).

I needed a result like that - my first PB on the road in more than a year. In contrast to racing 800s (#Murph_DNailedTheNats) 10 mile races give you a lot more time to think. When I was slipping back from the pace group, doubts started to kick in again, after a reasonably comfortable first half. I hadn't raced a 10 miler in two years, and so was wondering would I even be able to beat 74??!! And then the wind hit us, directly following a nice little climb up and over the railway bridge. Two miles of this?!!

Had I not PB'd yesterday, I would have been sorely tempted to throw all my running gear in the bin, considering the position I was in at half way. Even with less than perfect preparation (e.g. poker and drinking ) I'd still managed to shed a few lbs, and the course couldn't have been much better. Soft as my old PB was, I still had to fight to get a new one. Plenty more room for improvement there, although it's highly unlikely that I'll race another 10 miler this year.

Next

My half marathon PB (1:37:30) is currently the next of the softer targets in the firing line, as I'll be heading to Ratoath on September 8 to take a shot at it, on another flat course. There's a possibility that I might go to Newbridge (Or Nowhere) for the BHAA Pfizer 5k next week; another PB friendly course, or so I have heard. After that....XC will be back before long, and I'll also have to choose a plan for the Connemarathon. In other words, plenty to look forward to

ariana`

Congrats on the PB! You worked hard for it!