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Leader Of The (Mid) Pack
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Thanks for all the kind words both here and on Strava.
It still came as a bit of a shock to end up front and centre on our FB page as a result :pac:
Hope the report conveyed some sense of what it was like out there.
In case any of you are curious...yes I have entered the report comp....however I had to change a few lines here and there, as usual there are parts where only the regular readers would get what I'm on about
Back to the present....
Wed 17/7 - 3.33 miles@9:17/mi
Woke up this morning basically stuck to the bed. Yep, I gave it the works in that race. Around lunchtime I finally threw on the runners and got out again. Feeling very tired, but I got a couple of laps of Porterstown in the bag before heading back home. Job done!
Thu 18/7 - 9.35 miles@8:39/mi
From the house to the Phoenix Park via Laurel Lodge, into the Furry Glen via Furze and back out. Spotted a gang of Porterstown Panthers about to do their hill runs - kept going just in case
Very happy with this run. Only 9 seconds differential between my fastest mile (8:32, twice) and slowest (8:41, first mile). Being able to run a lot of it on grass was a massive help, as there was a fair bit of cumulative fatigue kicking in.
Fri 19/7 - Rest
Apart, that is, from a good sized lunch, as well as cakes in the afternoon. My promotion has finally gone through, so I may well have started in the new job by the time you read this. I got a lovely send off anyway - way better than I deserved or expected!
Sat 20/7 - 11.52 miles@8:22/mi, including Porterstown parkrun
As I would be volunteering at the South Dublin 10k, I decided to use a partial reprise of one of my June runs for this week's MLR. I'm not quite up to LSR mileage yet Arrived in Porterstown a little bit early, but no matter, as I shuffled around the grass track to fill in the time. The parkrun itself was a progression run, with my last mile (7:10) being at around 10 mile race pace. FWIW, I covered parkrun #122 in 23:07. Cooldown brought me over 12 miles for the day. Delighted.
Sun 21/7 - 7.06 miles@8:17/mi
We'd a fair bit of interest in a 7 AM run from Castleknock Gate, so in spite of putting away "some" wine after the Dubs' latest demolition job, I was more than willing and able to join in. Six of us set off, nice and easy through Castleknock and back in via Knockmaroon Gate, before completing most of a loop of the park, apart from the North Road/zoo.
As it turned out, for the SD 10k I was handing out the medium sized t-shirts at the finish (Dublin GAA top). Super busy for a good while, but a bit of craic and turned out better than expected, considering I'd never done that job before. I spotted quite a few from here, as well as numerous non Boardsie buddies. Special mention for OOnegative, all the way from the Netherlands to run an aul 10k.
38 miles for the week. Considering I'd a race in there, I'm quite pleased with how this turned out. Back to building up the miles again next week! Thanks for reading. J.0 -
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OOnegative wrote: »Good to see you again J, fair play on the volunteering man, need more like you.
Thanks B, yeah a lot of our regular crew were in Tullamore for the National Juvenile Championships, so the reserves got drafted in! I'm on the list for the FD 10, so will probably end up doing something similar there.
As an aside, I reckon a 10k PB, closely followed by a 10k race win, would merit an aul race report. Or two! :pac:
Back to my own gig. Slipped out to Page 3 since last week.
Mon 22/7 - Rest
Tue 23/7 - 11.09 miles @8:47/mi
After running from the house to White's Gate, I decided to make another guest appearance on the Porterstown Panthers Tuesday run. Four of us kept a nice pace on an anticlockwise lap of the Park. The faster ones in the group go at a pace that suits, so I might jump in again before the summer's out. Quite a warm evening, with a turn off the North Road to the trail from the Hole In The Wall providing welcome shelter from the sun. Once we'd completed the loop, I left them at White's Gate, and a solo run home brought me into double figures.
Wed 24/7 - Nothing
Best intentions, but cooking related issues meant I missed the club session in Porterstown (adult supervision wasn't available, as my wife was at a work do). Once I (a) learn where everything is, and (b) don't have to check the recipe(s) every two seconds, all will be fine As it turned out, dinner wasn't made till 7:30, so I just ate it there and then, rather than shuffling up for the last few minutes of the session and eating later. It turns out I missed a beast of a pyramid - 3 mins/5/8/5/3 :eek: Not sure what the recoveries were, but something tells me it won't be long before I find out.
Thu 25/7 - 11.55 miles @8:45/mi
"Hot and humid Thursday trundle" as I labelled it on Strava. For a change, I returned to a route I covered almost a year ago.
From the house through Clonsilla to the end of Ongar Road, roughly 3.2 miles. Then turn around, and the real fun started - over four miles of virtually dead straight road. From well over a mile away, you can see the Power City in the distance, and it seems much further away than that! Head down, and don't think about it too much. This road passes the "West End" Blanch SC shops, crosses the N3, and passes the National Sports Campus. Left at the roundabout towards Tyrrelstown (as opposed to turning right for Finglas) and turn down the hill behind Corduff, back over the N3 (different bridge) passing the Blanchardstown Centre again, and onwards to home. Like I say, not a very inspiring route, and I wasn't feeling very energetic, although the splits came as a pleasant surprise - very consistent by my standards.
Fri 26/7 - 3.61 miles@8:38/mi
This was an attempt to partially compensate for no running on Wednesday. I didn't have much time, so a quick scoot around the Carpenterstown loop (x 2) was what transpired. You would think I ran for a lot longer, considering how sweaty I was at the end of it!
Dé Sathairn 27/7 - parkrun Athair Uí Choileáin
Bhí sé ar m'intinn agam dul go dtí an seisiún leis an gclub ag na Polos, ach bhí mé tuirseach traochta ar maidin (easpa chodladh). Mar sin, shocraigh mé cuairt a thabhairt ar an parkrun seo, mar parkrun as Gaeilge a bhí ann inniu.
Bhraith mé go breá sa warmup, ach ní raobh aon fuinneamh agam ar chor ar bith sa parkrun. Thaitin sé liom ar aon nós. 21:17 sa deireadh (#123). Is parkrun é. Ná bí buartha. Leanfaimid ar aghaidh!
A few clubmates were racing too. Our lady captain picked up silver in the National Senior 5000 metres in Santry. No shame in being second to Fionnuala McCormack, and she left the other silver medal contenders well behind early on in what was an outstanding performance.
Elsewhere, one of the lads gave up his own race in the Mullingar 10, to help a girl who collapsed while running with him. Very scary, but she's ok now, much to the relief of all involved.
Sun 28/7 - 12.15 miles @8:11/mi
I spent a fair bit of yesterday deliberating whether to start at 7 or 8 AM. Even better numbers for the earlier stint, as it turned out, and we had five together for the entirety of this 7 mile plus loop. Another 5 miles with the 8 AM group brought me to over 12 miles for the day (even though I tired on the Khyber), and 44.6 miles for the week, just over my mileage for the first week of July. Delighted with that, as the mileage slipped in between, partially due to racing, but now I'm where I want to be again. A slight increase in mileage next week, to bring me closer to 50 than 40, will be a very satisfactory outcome as July turns to August. Thanks for reading. J.0 -
Mon 29/7 - Rest
Tue 30/7 - 12.07 miles@8:35/mi
Between lightning strikes along my preferred train route, and super slow buses in the floods, I was 45 minutes later than planned in getting home. It was one of those evenings where the longer I sat there thinking about it, the less likely I was to actually get out and run. Eventually, I threw on the rain jacket and got out the door. Long route to the Phoenix Park (i.e. via Laurel Lodge and Castleknock village) before a lap of the Park and back out. The worst of the rain had passed, however, it did fall for most of my 1:43 stint.
I also got chased by two black Labradors near Ashtown Gate. One of the Panthers asked me about this on my Strava. I've no idea why it's always me that seems to attract canine "attention" (as well as flies and seagulls).
Being black Labs, they probably would have tried to lick me to death, but I couldn't be sure. Funny when I discovered that one of them had the same name as me. Now that's a first :pac: As for the run itself, probably a bit quick, although it didn't feel that way, even with a very heavy jacket near the end. Two 12 milers two days apart? Something to keep an eye on, as Paddy pointed out tonight. Plenty to ponder indeed.
Wed 31/7 - Club session, Porterstown Park
For various reasons, I hadn't actually taken part in a club session since the first week of July. Hence, I was a bit fearful tonight, especially having heard of the 3/5/8/5/3 pyramid last week. Well anyway, after a shuffle up, followed by a couple of laps of the track and four hedge loops, what transpired maybe wasn't as bad.
The coach said before we started, that there would be 24 minutes of hard running (sub 5k pace). Five runs, shortest 4 minutes, longest 6. I guessed that it would be another pyramid (4/5/6/5/4). Wrong. Turns out it was alternating (4/6/4/6/4) with 2 minute jog recoveries. Between the warm weather, increased mileage, and lack of recent speedwork, I found the second 6 particularly tough. The last 4, Ronan passed me with about 500 to go, and although I made up a lot of ground on him and Bernard near the end, I didn't quite catch them. Happy with my evening's work. Stretches afterwards (while trying to avoid swallowing flies!) and then a shuffle home to bring it to 7.15 miles for the night.
July Review
Overall, I'm very happy with how this month has gone. Following a shocker of a month in June, it was time for a change in strategy, among other things. More training and less races was the single biggest change. It seems to be working well so far. I only had the one race, but that was the night I finally broke a 5 year old 5 mile PB, on a warm and sunny evening in Bettystown. A very satisfactory LR followed four days later, finished with the last mile of a parkrun at 10 mile race pace.
Since then, the hardest thing has maybe been to monitor the increased mileage, and do it in such a way that's controlled and not in danger of knocking me for six down the road. As mentioned earlier, the closeness of 12 mile runs, and the pace at which I'm doing them, could come back to bite me. Luckily, I'm not planning to increase the midweek runs by much (if anything slightly decreasing) and the overall weekly mileage shouldn't go too much over 50. Overall, I ran on 21 days out of 31, and I achieved my highest ever monthly mileage, which should hopefully stand to me in the coming races. Diet hasn't always been as good as planned (i.e. most days good, one or two not so), alcohol the same, but that can be turned around again. Sleep still terrible though. Heat doesn't help me.
Races: 1 (YTD 14)
parkruns: 3 (13)
Mileage: 164 (803)
Next
Upcoming races are, as it stands, the Kilcock 10 Mile on August 18, and the Ratoath Half Marathon on September 14. After that, it's really decision time regarding what I want to actually do in October. The Irish 3/4 Marathon, the Lusk 20 Mile, and the Dublin Novices XC, are all taking place the first weekend in October, just after we come back from our holidays. More observant readers will have noted the absence of any reference to marathon plans here
In other words, *if* I take the DCM start line, it will purely be for show, and the sightseeing tour to follow. If I fancy any actual racing in October, cross country will be my friend. Decisions, decisions! Thanks for reading. J.
FÓGRA
Just in case any of you were wondering what happened to the report competition. I got word tonight that I finished second, for which the prize is a free entry to next year's race. Hope none of you lost money on that one!0 -
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Thu 1/8 - 11.53 miles@9:13/mi
This was last Thursday's run in reverse, i.e. straight up past the Blanchardstown Centre to begin, downhill past the National Sports Campus, and all the way to Ongar, before turning around and coming home via Clonsilla.
On another warm, sunny evening, I felt desperate almost right from the start. Even early on, it seemed to take forever to reach the top of the hill after passing TU Dublin and the back of Corduff. Downhills didn't improve my mood. Even so, I resisted the temptation to turn off the Ongar Road early. Much slower than last Thursday's effort, but I didn't take part in the Wednesday session last week. "Too long by at least 2 miles" as I commented on Strava. Still think that's a valid statement :rolleyes:
Fri 2/8 - Rest
Sat 3/8 - Club session, Phoenix Park
Down to White's Gate for 8 to meet the coach. Seven of us were out for what for me was a new session. Over to the hills in the Furry Glen to start off. Not the ones you run up or down in, for example, this year's Irish Runner 5 & 10 Mile races. Shorter, but steeper! We were given the choice of 8 or 10. Up one, recover coming down, straight up the other and repeat. Trying to keep a consistent rhythm was tough, but I had Ronan and Joan with me, and I let it be known that none of us were stopping at 8! Delighted to complete the ten, although the legs were a bit jellylike after the last one.
We exited the Furry Glen by the more conventional route, passing Browneyes (in mid LSR) along the way, and came back to the crossroads at the end of Furze Road. After a few strides, time for the last part of the session - a hard run around the OS Road/Chesterfield Ave/Furze Road triangle, a distance of about 2.7 km. I've always blown up early any time I've raced the Tom Brennan, so this would be tricky. I was gasping even on the OS Road, but while Kenny was gone way into the distance, the rest of us were still reasonably close. I managed to reel in a fading Ronan half way down the Furze, and although I finished strong and was catching Bernard at the end, at the same time Joan was catching me. 10:53 as timed by the coach - not a bad first attempt. Run back to the car to bring it to 6.6 miles for the morning.
My work was not quite done! Quick drive up to Porterstown for parkrun volunteering. Pleasantly surprised to meet ReeReeG, who was doing this one as part of her long run. There was even some hot chocolate left for me at the end of my marshalling stint. Good work
Sun 4/8 - 11.56 miles@8:32/mi
Between already having a lump of miles on board this week, and then a few pints watching the GAA on Saturday evening, the original plans for today were more than a little ambitious. These were (a) run along the canal as far as Drumcondra, then turn around (13-14 miles), or (b) 10 miles around Phoenix Park with the lads, with the runs to and from the house taking it to over 14.5.
Even coming down the hill towards White's Gate, my head wasn't in the game at all. The decision was made very quickly in the end, as while the faster lads went the traditional MSB Sunday route around the OS trail, the rest of us reverted to an old fashioned perimeter lap of the park. Quite similar to the Porterstown Panthers route, so much so that we passed a few of them along the way. Coming back up the North Road, I was dreading having to undertake the two drags on the way home solo - White's Gate to Castleknock College (half a mile or so), and then roughly a kilometre from under the M50 up to Carpenterstown. Badly needed bath after I finally reached base camp. Several hours later, I'm still feeling a bit wiped out.
So there you have it. 48.85 miles for the week, which is my highest ever mileage. Had I gone with the other plans, it would have been 51 or 52. Next week, the Tuesday and Thursday runs will be shorter. I'm Run Director in Porterstown next Saturday morning, so I'm planning an early start for my Sunday LR before supporting at the Rock 'N' Roll races. Hopefully I'll catch a few of you in action. Thanks for reading. J.0 -
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Thu 8/8 - 9.42 miles@8:45/mi
Continuing with the theme of less midweek miles, I did the reverse of a run I did a couple of weeks ago. This time in White's Gate, over to Furry Glen, and back up to run the Furze Road before exiting at Castleknock Gate and going home via Laurel Lodge. First few miles weren't too bad, but once I got out of the park I was really struggling. Clearly the pyramid session hit me harder than I thought.
Fri 9/8 - Rest
Sat 10/8 - 14.61 miles @8:38/mi
That was rank. I think I stopped three times, between firstly wondering would I complete my planned run in time for the parkrun start, and secondly thinking would I even bother! The route didn't help - over four miles of long straight road from Ongar to Ballycoolin, and then three miles into the wind, past the back of Corduff and the Blanchardstown Centre, towards Porterstown. The RD was just starting her briefing as I arrived. I looked and felt fairly ragged, especially compared to most of those fresh as daisies about to start their runs. The plan was to finish with a progression run, similar to a couple of LRs I've done this summer. No chance of that happening this time I'm afraid. I really did only have one gear, Friday night pints during and after watching the Reds v Norwich not helping my cause. I got lapped by the first finisher, a lad wearing a Mayo jersey. Thankfully, in the end that didn't turn out to be the bad omen I feared 25:46 for parkrun #124 for me, the 200th at Porterstown. My longest run this year - the next LSR can only be better.
Sun 11/8 - 3.56 miles @9:21/mi
Down to the Phoenix Park to cheer the R'N'R athletes home - a large contingent from my own club, as well as a good number of Boardsies, such as RayCun, ReeReeG, Sheep1978, quick feet, HelenAnne and RedRunner. After all of that, my wife suggested taking the car, rather than me shuffling around the Carpenterstown loop. So it was off to St Catherine's Park with me. Between the LR and drinks following Dublin's demolition of Mayo, I was still a bit tender. The forest trail was a disaster - lots of families, dogs etc making it a very stop start affair. There's a farmers market on Sundays there now as well, and there was a fair bit of activity here too, as I tiptoed my way through the masses. By the time I'd got to the railway stretch, I was in no mood for going around again. Thankfully, I had company for the last few minutes, as a result of a chance meeting with one of the Porterstown Panthers. By the time I returned to the car, I was feeling majorly clapped out, in more ways than one!
44.8 miles for the week. Next week will be mostly easy stuff, with mileage reducing again, as I aim to improve on my 10 mile PB in Kilcock. This is currently 1:11:33, set in the same race last year. Sub 70 seems to be more achievable this time. There are 70 min pacers, so I'll follow them early on and see what I have for the second half. Thanks for reading. J.0 -
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OOnegative wrote: »Good man J, great guts & determination to finish that out. Any day you run a PB is a good one!!
Dead right B. I found it very hard to get them last year - this race provided me with my only one of 2018.Another very well-earned result there J! You certainly know how to get the best out of yourself, no matter what the conditions. Reading that report has me raring to go for next weekend!!
Congrats!!
Thanks K, certainly far more put into this one than my last race in Kilcock. No chucking it in early this time!scotindublin wrote: »Great run J; real guts and determination shown out there. As you say PBS don't come easy and have to be earned....savour it!
Thanks C, of course I totally stole that quote from Krusty, but not to mind!Ahhh that's a great gutsy run, well done J, a hard earned PB. There's a lot of us around these parts still getting PBs *reasonably* handy but it's inspiring to read reports like that and i for one can only hope i have a bit of that grit and determination when i need it. Congrats.
Thanks E, glad you enjoyed it! Perhaps the memory from the 5k helped spur me on to avoid a repeat performance. Still a few more good years left for me I hope :pac:Congrats J, well deserved result after your training recently and past race results, you have been flying!
Keep it going now, hopefully see you Saturday!
Thanks D, however I did wonder in running whether those "too long" midweek runs would come back to bite me! One (?) long race left this yearGreat report as always J. Well done again on the pb yesterday
Thanks D, yes one to savour. Fair play to yourself, a handy 64 in the bag!Mellow Yellow 26.2 wrote: »Great running well done!Dubh Geannain wrote: »Sounds like there was no small amount of suffering for that PB. Well done.
Thanks guys, I'd say with most distances from here on I'll have to suffer for every PB I get.Congrats on the PB J, well earned.Bluesquare wrote: »Well done on Pb. Great report.Inspiring! Well run.I am mildly distracted by the blueberry protein milk, which actually sounds worse than chocolate milk.
That's some run, with a report to match. Congrats on the PB.Sounds like a well raced race. Congrats on the PB again, hope the beers were enjoyed.Laineyfrecks wrote: »Well done on the PB
Great race report!!
Thanks all! Beers (yes, plural!) went down a treat on Sunday. @Huzzah! I've actually drank chocolate milk before in non race situations as for blueberry, desperate times...
Overall!
Another pleasing aspect of Sunday, apart from all those already mentioned, is that in spite of all my earlier troubles, I wasn't passed by anyone in that 2 mile plus finishing stretch along the canal, although I only passed one runner in the last mile. That wasn't the case last year. I don't think they had it for their inaugural (2018) event , but this year the last mile was timed. My last was 7:06, which isn't amazing when you consider I had a 7:03 average for the 10, but it's certainly quicker than I thought it was. The chap I caught at the end clocked 7:26 for the last mile.
I don't think I could have done much better on the day. Sub 70 just wasn't there this time. I got into the right position, but even from early on, it was too much work just to stay in the group.
Could I have pushed ahead of the pacers anyway? Probably.
Would I have been able to make it stick? No, as subsequent events proved my in race analysis to be correct.
Next time I should be able to seal that deal - it might not be another whole year before I race 10 miles again.
Comparing mile averages so far this year....
Docklands 5k 20:20 (6:33)
Bettystown 5 Mile 33:48 (6:46) PB
Kilcock 10 Mile 1:10:31 (7:03) PB
My current half marathon PB was set in the Race Series HM in the Phoenix Park, as long ago as September 2016. 1:37:30 gives me a 7:26 average. I'm thinking that if I can average 7:03 over 10 miles, surely I can beat that in a few weeks time. 17 seconds difference between 5 and 10, yes the distance is increasing, but I feel like it's well within my range. Couple more good weeks training (here's hoping!), and we'll see. That will be a nice one to crack, if I can bring it home.0
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