Leader Of The (Mid) Pack

eyrie

Niiiiiice, well done! Love the finish-line showdown! Congrats on the PB

Kellygirl

Congrats WW. Well done on the pb.

aquinn

What a fantastic result and time. Brilliant going. Well done.

Wubble Wubble

ariana` wrote: »

Congrats on the PB! You worked hard for it!

Thanks E, been a while! More to do yet

eyrie wrote: »

Niiiiiice, well done! Love the finish-line showdown! Congrats on the PB

Thanks C, nice to get the better of a fella at the end like that! Lucy from MyRunResults got a great photo of me at the finish. You can kind of tell I was happy with the overall outcome :pac:

Kellygirl wrote: »

Congrats WW. Well done on the pb.

Thanks K, hopefully at least one more to come before the end of the year

aquinn wrote: »

What a fantastic result and time. Brilliant going. Well done.

Thanks A! Don't know how you find the time to read any of this stuff, what with running on hen weekends and general wedding preparation :pac::pac:

Mon 20/8 - 6.05 [EMAIL="miles@9:00/mi"]miles@9:00/mi[/EMAIL]

"Tired and sweaty recovery plod" as I described it on Strava. For a change I decided to start with two laps of Porterstown, rather than Carpo. Problem with that was, by the time I got out of there, I had to really force myself to run two loops of Carpenterstown afterwards. Pacing was fairly consistent though :rolleyes:

Tue 21/8 - Rest

Wed 22/8 - Club session, Porterstown Park

Having a day off certainly helped with this one. I felt strong on the hedge loops, as well as the first two parts of the 5/4/3/2 (2 min rec) on the grass track at 5k pace. Although Sunday's race definitely had an impact in the 3 & 2 minute stints, I covered more ground than I've done in a long while. Just over 5 miles in total, including warmup and cooldown.

More good news this morning, as on weighing myself I discovered that I'm the lightest I've been in at least a year, in spite of making a pig of myself on Sunday and Monday between junk food and pints. Overall about 6 lbs down in the last month or so. I could still do with losing some more before Ratoath, but overall I seem to be headed in the right direction

I see that Tyrrelstown parkrun is starting in September. This will leave me three short of the full Dublin set. I'm still confident I'll get them all by year end. That's assuming there aren't too many more in the pipeline

aquinn

What else is on the parkrun tour of Dublin?

Wubble Wubble

aquinn wrote: »

What else is on the parkrun tour of Dublin?

I've still to visit Brickfields, as well as Father Collins.

aquinn

Wubble Wubble wrote: »

I've still to visit Brickfields, as well as Father Collins.

Two flat ones as so with your lost weight you're in for a fast time.

Annie get your Run

What did I miss? Crap I'll have to go and read back now!!! Something about a PB so congrats on that

Edit: read back, super report J, congrats that's a great result and well done for not quitting when the going got tough!

Wubble Wubble

Thu 23/8 - 7.80 miles@8:45/mi

Over to Hartstown for this, on a cool and windy evening. Two laps of the parkrun course, keeping it steady enough. Absolutely drenched crossing the railway bridge in the last mile. Hailstones and all. Winter's on the way :pac:

Fri 24/8 - Rest

Sat 25/8 - 11.52 miles@8:54/mi

With four pre teen nieces staying with us for a sleepover on Friday night/Saturday morning, there was no chance of me getting out for a parkrun. Hence, I missed the coronation of Porterstown's newest centurion. Later I decided to improvise a medium-long run, as I believed it would be easier than navigating the canals or roads in and out of D15 on Sunday. Over the railway bridge, through Clonsilla and on up to Ongar. When you turn around and head east, there's a very long straight, with Power City and Blanchardstown fire station visible in the far distance. I ran the entire length of this stretch, all the way past the National Sports Campus, then left towards Ballycoolin and left again around the far side of Corduff. Tired coming back in, but even so, my quickest mile was the one where I crossed the railway bridge on the way back. Job done.

Sun 26/8 - 6.04 miles@9:14/mi

Carpenterstown and Porterstown in the pouring rain, with barely a sinner, saint or pilgrim in sight. 36.4 miles for the week. Thanks for reading. J.

skyblue46

Great to see you running regularly again. Onwards and upwards!

Wubble Wubble

skyblue46 wrote: »

Great to see you running regularly again. Onwards and upwards!

Thanks S, bit of a commentator's curse there :pac:

Mon 27/8 - Rest (planned)

Tue 28/8 - 7.84 miles@8:35/mi

Enjoyed this one. Standard run to the Park (nice to be able to run there again!) via Castleknock College, then down to the Áras and across to the Hole In The Wall. From there, along the trails to White's Gate, passing out the great Catherina McKiernan en route (well, she was walking :pac: ) and back home the way I came in. Pacing was better than usual too, so happy with my evening's work.

Wed 29/8 - No running

I had to skip the club session due to life stuff. By the time we'd dealt with that, it was too late for a run. All good otherwise.

Thu 30/8 - Nothing

Not enough time, between work, dinner and GAA. We won, to ensure our survival in Division 2.

Fri 31/8 - Rest

For most of this week, I've had an odd pain in my ribs when I get up, which only seems to have eased off today. I'm putting it down to me sleeping at some odd angle one of the recent nights. It didn't affect my run on Tuesday, but I've decided I can live without running today.

August Review

All in all, a successful month of running. Not a massive amount of activity (c. 118 miles for the month) but what I did cover went well, certainly by recent standards. A season's best for 5k, in my 100th parkrun, was a most satisfying way to start the month. This was added to by my first PB of the year, on a favourable 10 mile course around Kilcock. The old PB might have been soft, but some effort was still required to get the job done, on a fine day all round.

Next

I'm intending to travel to Newbridge in the morning, for the BHAA Pfizer 5k. After that, it's a short trip to Ratoath, for the sold out inaugural half marathon. This will be another PB attempt, aiming to eclipse my 1:37:30 from the Race Series HM two years ago. To finish off September, I'm tentatively eyeing up a journey to Rathfarnham, for what would be my first attempt at a reportedly very fast 5k. Thanks for reading. J.

Wubble Wubble

Sat 1/9 - BHAA Pfizer 5k, Newbridge

I nearly didn't go to this. With so little running this week, I was thinking driving down here would turn out to be a disaster.

Dark and drizzly when I arrived, one of the first to register (!) before a warmup lap with G. A few strides and stretches at the start, and we were ready to go.

The Race

The start and the finish were on opposite sides of the Pfizer grounds - each lap was just under 2k. Downhill to begin, then past the main entrance and through a couple of chicanes to pass the finish around the 1k mark. I let Paddy P, Tom C and G head off, while I ran with Ian R, a guy from UB, and the first two females. I got by the lads before we passed the finish, although the women and I were passing each other for a while. They pulled away from me after a mile or so, so then I had two Eir runners in my sights. The first guy kept surging as I pulled up alongside, but I kept my rhythm (such as it was!) steady, and dropped him and the other fella at the top of the drag which brought us to the 2k mark.

From here on, I was thinking I might better my 100th parkrun time of 20:36, provided I didn't fall apart. With nobody close up ahead, it was more a case of trying to keep the other lads behind, although I didn't feel under huge pressure on that score. The sun came out for the last lap, which made the drag up to 4k a bit tougher than it might have been. The good thing was, once over that, the last k was all downhill/flat, so I took off just to make sure I didn't lose any positions. Coming around to the finish, I worked my way through the chicane, just before sprinting to the chute. So I thought. Forgot about the second chicane! Luckily I hadn't lost too much momentum, although I couldn't pick it up enough to crack 20:20. I knew I had set a new best of 2018 though, so a pleasing start to the weekend

Time: 20:24
Position: 20/57 (2nd M45 of 3)

We didn't have enough for a team on this occasion, and I had to leave before the prizegiving, but I did manage to tuck into chips, sausages, chicken goujons, and loads of biccies, to make sure I was sufficiently nourished for the drive back to D15 :pac: with my confidence boosted further for next week's Ratoath Half. Thanks for reading. J.

Kellygirl

Congrats again. That’s a great time.

scotindublin

Great time and good luck for next weekend.

eyrie

Lovely stuff, congratulations! Sounds like a strong run too, nicely done

Wubble Wubble

Kellygirl wrote: »

Congrats again. That’s a great time.

scotindublin wrote: »

Great time and good luck for next weekend.

eyrie wrote: »

Lovely stuff, congratulations! Sounds like a strong run too, nicely done

Thanks all, my third fastest ever 5k actually - better than last year's Jingle Bells.

Since then, diet has been all over the shop, with, shall we say, "enough" eating and drinking before and after Dublin's 4 in a row on Sunday. No running either, and I'm not anticipating doing a lot between now and Saturday morning. Sheep is (or was) planning to start off at sub-95 pace, so I may run with him and see how that turns out.

Sheep1978

J I'm meeting up with Sean and Damo beforehand on Sat morning and we can discuss any potential plan of attack!!!

ariana`

Congrats on the 5k WW! And best of luck for the HM.

* I'd watch those recently graduated lads though - there's a rumor afloat that they're secretly targeting 89:59 :eek:

Wubble Wubble

ariana` wrote: »

Congrats on the 5k WW! And best of luck for the HM.

* I'd watch those recently graduated lads though - there's a rumor afloat that they're secretly targeting 89:59 :eek:

Not so secret anymore, thanks E :D:D:D

Part of me thinks it would be brilliant to seriously go after that one. However, realistically it's asking a lot to go from a 7:09 average for 10 miles to 6:52 for 13.1, in the space of three weeks, with one half decent week of actual running in between.

Sub-95 would be a 7:15 average, which doesn't sound so off the charts.
Existing PB of 1:37:30 is a two year old effort, with a 7:26 average. Surely that at least is beatable! It'll be my last long race of the year anyway, so I'll give it a shot

skyblue46

Wubble Wubble wrote: »

Not so secret anymore, thanks E :D:D:D

Part of me thinks it would be brilliant to seriously go after that one. However, realistically it's asking a lot to go from a 7:09 average for 10 miles to 6:52 for 13.1, in the space of three weeks, with one half decent week of actual running in between.

Sub-95 would be a 7:15 average, which doesn't sound so off the charts.
Existing PB of 1:37:30 is a two year old effort, with a 7:26 average. Surely that at least is beatable! It'll be my last long race of the year anyway, so I'll give it a shot

Ah come on, you know you want to! :pac: Looks like a wet and breezy one. Hopefully we bump into you in the morning.

Wubble Wubble

Sat 8/9 - Ratoath Half Marathon, Fairyhouse Racecourse

Pre Race

The build up to this was nothing short of shocking, from a (non) running point of view. Since the Pfizer race, I didn't run a yard. Following on from Tuesday's update, I had a job application to submit by Thursday, and then we were away for our anniversary - the runners stayed behind!

I drove out to Ratoath nice and early in the pouring rain. Thankfully we were under cover beneath the racecourse stand. Here, I renewed acquaintances with skyblue and Sheep, and met Damo, Omeceron and coogy for the first time.

Plenty more deliberating here over which tactics I/we should employ. The first three of the aforementioned still fancied their chances of sub-90, but I was sceptical to say the least regarding my own. Following a relaxed warmup, I met clubmate Shane at the start. We found our own little niches near the 1:30 pacer, and shortly after 9 we were away.

Miles 1-5

Out the side gate of Fairyhouse, taking a left towards Dunboyne. Thankfully the rain had stopped. Even though it didn't feel like we were anywhere near 1:30 pace, I had the sense to realise that a sub-90 wasn't going to be on today. Can't believe I thought for even a second it might be on. More on that later!

Left onto a country lane shortly after 1 mile, and I was 10-12 seconds behind the pacer, and comfortable about that. The most important things for me were to keep a fairly steady rhythm going, control my form, keep the head up etc. I'm an awful man when it comes to cross strides and that sort of thing.

I could see Shane in the distance, and there were two Athenry lads in the vicinity for a while, before they pulled ahead. Conscious of the possibility of an early blowup should I decide to follow, I kept my pace as it was. Two Lusk lads passed around the 3 mile mark. Follow or not? One looks familiar ish. Leave them. They might come back.

There was a little drag around the 4 mile mark, but overall nothing too bruising as we pulled into Kilbride. A few others had passed as well, but I was only worrying about my own effort at this point.

Miles 6-8

Left into Kilbride, past the GAA grounds, and on to Sweeney's pub, for the second water station and some badly needed liquid sustenance before the sharp little climb away.

Don't get me wrong, this was no scorchio a la Clontarf. However, I was feeling a bit parched due to the long gap between stations (2-5.5 miles). Long straights for a lot of the next 2-3 miles of the old Ratoath road. I was ticking off the mile markers in my head - 6 gone, 7.1 to go, that sort of thing.

Rhythm was still steady for the most part; I couldn't afford to waver too much, with traffic coming up and down the other side of the road at a fair aul clip. One or two more little convoys passed, although I was still within range of Shane. Or was I ? I couldn't afford to lose much more pace.

Miles 9-11

At last. Left off the Kilbride road, onto another (Glascarn) lane, with plenty of shelter available from the breeze.

Finally! I passed someone. No idea where this lad had positioned himself originally, but he made no effort to stay with me. That said, I was still getting passed through this section, and my knee was starting to act up. Ah here! More water at the 9 mile mark. Couple of sips, then over the head with the rest of it. Sun was out by now of course. Lucky I put on the suncream before I left! Passed one of the Lusk fellas back, but really the main thing now was to get to the end still intact.

Turning left and back onto the Fairyhouse Road, and here's where it got a bit hairy. Both sides of the road were open, so we were inside a bunch of cones on what there was of the "hard shoulder". A few lads were somewhat adventurous with their overtaking, given the amount of traffic!

Meanwhile, although I was passing a few who'd gone out too hard early on, a lot more were passing me. I was relieved to get off the main road and turn back in towards the racecourse, taking more water on board as I did so.

Last Lap

We went left around the back of the stand, through the stable yard and alongside the end of the loop. There was a fella coming around to the finish as I was passing on the other side. Needless to say, he was moving a bit quicker than I was!

The lap started with a long drag "towards Ballyhack", for those of you who follow the racing. At long last, I was starting to reel in more runners than were passing me, and I passed Shane about half way up the hill. Nice to have a bit of music to get the blood pumping!

The turn towards the 12 mile mark brought an increase in wind strength, even though we were heading downhill for most of this stretch. The track being so exposed, any breeze at all was having an impact. Only a mile left now though! Time to grit the teeth and get it done. As we turned again, in the distance I could see people turning towards the finish. How far is that? Never mind, just run! I pushed harder, picking up pace down the straight. Left off the loop, and left onto the short finishing straight. Push for the line. PB missed. Just.

Time: 1:37:46 (1:37:40)
Position: 121/660 (51/162 M40)

Post Race

Wow! No collapse! No visit to the medical tent!!!! Caught up with skyblue, Sheep and Damo again at the finish. In fact, I only just managed to cross the line before a flying coogy caught me.

A bit more info to give ye an idea of just how ambitious a PB attempt (let alone sub-90) actually was this morning. My longest run this year is still 13.5 miles, on Inishbofin at the end of June, at a shuffle pace of 9:47/mi. Could I really have run nearly three minutes a mile quicker over almost the same distance? No! In fact, since then I've only a handful of double figure mileage runs done, and one of those was the Clontarf HM horror show.

With this in mind, I'd say today's result isn't so bad. I know I guffawed at how slow my PB was (is!) in previous posts, but it wasn't until I examined my Strava log a bit more forensically this afternoon, that I realised just how little long work I have under my belt this year. This was the first HM I finished since last year's Race Series HM in Newbridge House, which was a progression run for me.

Anyway, that's the last of the "long" races for me this year. XC is coming soon, but before that I'm still looking towards Rathfarnham, for what should at least be better than my best 5k time this year. However, even with a downhill start and a downhill finish, an improvement of over 40 seconds might be too much to ask. We shall see! Thanks for reading. J.

skyblue46

Good man J. Very sensibly run and a bit of balls at the end, 2 things I was lacking today. Yeah the bit on the main road was messy and I found it tough to be so close to the finish and still have 2 miles to do! :-/

Kellygirl

Well done WW. Very well run race.

Wubble Wubble

Sun 9/9 - Club run, Phoenix Park

In hindsight, it may have been better to do a few miles on my own. Although the pace here was similar to most Sunday 8 AM starts (5 miles @8:06 average) due to the HM the day before, I found myself having to work a lot harder than usual to stay with it. Got a nice kick at the end though, with a 7:41 last mile.

Not something I noticed on Saturday or Sunday, but since then I've had a bit of soreness in my foot which flares up if I walk for a bit. I'm hoping it's nothing serious. With this in mind, I let last night's planned easy miles slide. More than likely I'll skip the club session too - I'll see if it feels any better later. Luckily I haven't actually entered the Rathfarnham 5k yet :rolleyes: fingers crossed!

Wubble Wubble

Thu 13/9 - 7.94 miles@8:53/mi

I skipped the club session, just to give that foot niggle another day. Even so, I was very tentative as I set off. This time, my fastest mile was 8:27 (mile 2) but the rest were closer to 9 min average pace - in fact the last two were well above. My foot felt grand at the end, which was the main thing here.

Fri 14/9 - Rest

Sat 15/9 - Porterstown parkrun

A work night out on Friday meant that this would not be a morning to be chasing times. I did manage to get a nice warmup lap done, most of it with Tom. However, I'd no intention of trying to follow him, Paddy, or anyone else.

Once we got started, I settled into a hungover rhythm of sorts. After about half a mile, I knew exactly where I would finish. Even at this early stage, I knew that I wouldn't pass anybody else, nor would I be passed unless I decided to stop. parkrun #102 won't live too long in the memory I'm afraid. For what it's worth, 22:22, 11/81, first M45.

Sun 16/9 - Club run, Phoenix Park

This was a bit more like it. I still can't believe I (seemingly) managed to get away uninjured after last Sunday's run. With no race from the day before, keeping up was a lot more straightforward. After my opening 5 mile stint at 8 AM, I stayed on for a couple of miles of trail running, before I peeled away at St Mary's Hospital and left the others to continue. Back at the car, I had a quick chat with AMK, who was psyching himself up before his 19 mile session. For me today, 9.39 miles@8:14/mi.

Only 22 miles for the week, however. This will have to improve next week. I'm still hoping to run the Rathfarnham 5k, and will make a decision depending on next week's (lack of?) mileage, providing it doesn't sell out in the meantime. Thanks for reading. J.

Wubble Wubble

Mon 17/9 - Rest

Tue 18/9 - 8.67 miles@8:44/mi

Straightforward enough jog down to White's Gate, helped by the fact that there were no cyclists on the path at Castleknock College. Bit strange that (according to Strava) this was my fastest mile again, in spite of me being stuck at the crossroads for what seemed like about 2 minutes. Anyway, I took to the trails from White's Gate around to the Hole In The Wall - roughly 2.5k, and my favourite part of this run.

Stayed on the grass over to the Áras and then back out through Castleknock Gate, continuing past Myo's, then over the M50 and through Laurel Lodge to home.

Earlier, I had considered skipping the turn for LL, and instead crossing the railway line to go through Roselawn. I think I made the right decision - the alternative route would have taken me into double figures, and been less enjoyable.

Wed 19/9 - Club session, Porterstown Park

With the park emerging from Storm Ali relatively unscathed, I headed across for the first Wednesday in a month. 1.75 mile warmup, then four loops of the hedges, before a short break (1 min approx). This time we did a 3/5/2/4 (2 min jog recs) on the grass track.

The wind was very strong, and against us on the uphill far side of the track, but thankfully the drenching rain only lasted for the warmup laps. I felt reasonably strong through this, picking up the pace nicely towards the end of the final 4 minute stint. Gasping at the finish.

On tonight's evidence, we should have enough light for at least one more week on home turf, before the sessions move to Santry for the winter. Maybe a last hard push before Rathfarnham?

Wubble Wubble

Thu 20/9 - 6.49 miles@8:54/mi

After getting a bit of a drenching on the way home from work, I wasn't in much of a mood for going back out again. However, I decided it was a necessary evil with what was coming down the tracks.

Rainjacket and hi vis on, out into a soaking September evening that felt more like November. The route itself was a combo of two of the boring suburban routes I run in winter. I had to stop and walk behind commuters on the narrow path crossing the railway and canal into Roselawn, and the long drag past the Blanchardstown Centre from the village didn't quite instil the inspiration. Just glad to be out of it at the end. Strava says 6.49 miles, but it felt closer to 16!

Fri 21/9 - Rest

Sat 22/9 - Tyrrelstown parkrun

This parkrun had its inaugural event last week, and reading positive feedback from AGYR, among others, gave me a bit more incentive to pay a quick visit. I got there early - plenty of parking, and lots of time to get a warmup lap, stretches and strides done.

I positioned myself at the front, and once a guy walking his dog had moved onto the grass, we were away. Tyrrelstown is a three lap parkrun. The guy who was beside me at the start went clear, and another fella in a blue top and a bandana passed me as well. He was about 50m ahead as we went up the nearest thing to a hill - a tiny hump as you turn around the lake. It's about 10-12 strides, and you get it back straight away At around 1 km, I got passed by a guy in a yellow top, who must have been stuck in a lot of traffic at the start, because he seemed to be a lot quicker than I was. 4th at the end of lap 1.

I tried to keep a steady tempo going, as I felt there was a chance I might improve on 4th - there didn't seem to be anyone else close behind anyway. Sure enough, I noticed bandana was coming back to me, as we headed for the playground and the right turn to bring us towards the lake. I caught him at the top of the hump, and from there it was a question of keeping him behind. As we went around the lake for the last time, I noticed he was still fairly close and trying to get back to me. Time to pick up the pace for the last 500 metres, and this did the trick all right, as I finished nearly half a minute ahead of him.

Time: 20:42
Position: 3/81
Category: 1st M45

I'm pleasantly surprised by that result, achieved without going hell for leather. It's my fourth fastest parkrun time, fastest anywhere other than my home track at Porterstown (20:36, in both my 50th and 100th parkruns) FWIW, first time on the podium in almost a year (Darndale 14/10/17, 3rd). Nice chats while chilling out at the finish, and this is one I'll come back to, hopefully fairly soon. I highly recommend it to those of you looking for a fast time.

Sun 23/9 - 5.03 miles@8:11/mi

I didn't really have an excuse to miss this one, even after a feed of pints following Erins Isle's championship exit (by one point!) Two clubmates PBd in the Race Series HM, and had said they'd be out for a few miles this morning. It meant that the pace was a bit slower than usual, not that I was complaining. Even after the Khyber climb, I had plenty of energy for a strong last mile, to bring me up to Castleknock Gate a few seconds ahead of the posse. Somewhere between 29 & 30 miles for the week.

In other news, the Rathfarnham 5k is off the table. I won't bore ye with the minutiae, but something came up (nothing sinister!) which I was half expecting. Hence, the wise decision to delay registering, so it hasn't cost me any money.

Instead, I'm considering a crack at the Simon 5 Mile the following week. The last time I ran it (2014, 36:07), I was almost down to walking pace on the climb up the Khyber to the finish. Plenty of room for improvement so! (a regular remark on this log ) Thanks for reading. J.

Annie get your Run

It's a lovely parkrun, well done on 3rd . I'll definitely be back too (I also got 1st in age cat there ). They also have tea's & coffee's in the community centre for a Euro which is fantastic.

Murph_D

Nice podium J! Must give you an aul race there sometime.

eyrie

Great result in the parkrun! Well done