Chapter 2 - Finding Nemo

Swashbuckler

Safiri wrote:

Sweet baby jesus! How can a man of your fine western heritage don that?

Haha the only way I could get into XC
Those West Limerick AC lads are too far away from where I live.

Safiri

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Haha the only way I could get into XC
Those West Limerick AC lads are too far away from where I live.

You told me you live in a caravan;)

Swashbuckler

Safiri wrote:

You told me you live in a caravan

For four months of the year I'm an honorary weekend kerry caravan man.

kerrylad1

Well done man.Fantastic running.That is one hell of a time.

hot buttered scones

Great report and great running. Well done - and it's no more than you deserve with all the hard work you've put in. That took some grit to finish out the race - those last 2 miles or so over the bridge and back up past the creamery are tough even with fully functioning calves! Charleville is one of my favourite races, especially the loop through Kilmallock, and I think you described it very well. If you think the crowds of runners and the support was good there, just wait until you do DCM next year - it'll blow you away. ;-)

eyrie

Ahh, beautiful! I'm sorry to hear you suffered like that but it's really something reading about it. As you say yourself the numbers aren't the most important thing and no number can really do justice to that effort, but congratulations on a very nice number all the same!

One thing I learned yesterday is that not all PB's are created equal. Some are great stories of inspiration and some are just an awful harrowing experience. Yesterday was the latter. Haha.

Going to have to disagree with you there :pac:. Well ok, not disagreeing that it was awful and harrowing for you going through it, but that sheer force of will is certainly inspiring. Well done you.

Swashbuckler

average_runner wrote:

How do you go about improving your longer distances ? What is the correlation between the 5k up to the marathon?

hot buttered scones wrote:

Great report and great running. Well done - and it's no more than you deserve with all the hard work you've put in. That took some grit to finish out the race - those last 2 miles or so over the bridge and back up past the creamery are tough even with fully functioning calves! Charleville is one of my favourite races, especially the loop through Kilmallock, and I think you described it very well. If you think the crowds of runners and the support was good there, just wait until you do DCM next year - it'll blow you away. ;-)

OH God no.... I've said it before and I'll say it again, ye marathon lads/ladies are nuts. A different breed. If I'm "death marching" in a half, what the hell will the full do to me. Haha

eyrie wrote:

Going to have to disagree with you there . Well ok, not disagreeing that it was awful and harrowing for you going through it, but that sheer force of will is certainly inspiring. Well done you.

Thanks Eyrie. And thanks for saying that. I guess I hadn't thought of it that way.

Wubble Wubble

That's an amazing result. Congrats on the PB, more than merited especially for the sheer determination to get across the line.

healy1835

Super report Paul. Fair play for digging in and holding a decent pace when you were under the cosh. And you were dead right to go for it from the off.....no question about it, you had it in the legs. Jealous of your impending move to XC.....Will try and dip my toe myself and get one or two races in after Dublin

Swashbuckler

healy1835 wrote:

Super report Paul. Fair play for digging in and holding a decent pace when you were under the cosh. And you were dead right to go for it from the off.....no question about it, you had it in the legs. Jealous of your impending move to XC.....Will try and dip my toe myself and get one or two races in after Dublin

Thanks J and thanks for forcing my hand a little with your result on Saturday! You were one of the two..

Can't wait for XC. Pure racing and forgetting about times or pbs. Hopefully I get to do a decent few races.

hot buttered scones

Swashbuckler wrote: »

OH God no.... I've said it before and I'll say it again, ye marathon lads/ladies are nuts. A different breed. If I'm "death marching" in a half, what the hell will the full do to me. Haha

I'm only ball hopping of course, but don't knock it til you've tried it!! Best of luck with the cross country. I'm looking forward to seeing how you go on the roads next year with a season of cross country under your belt.

healy1835

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Thanks J and thanks for forcing my hand a little with your result on Saturday! You were one of the two..

Can't wait for XC. Pure racing and forgetting about times or pbs. Hopefully I get to do a decent few races.

if we could have amalgamated the different halves of our races then we could have did some serious damage

Swashbuckler

healy1835 wrote:

if we could have amalgamated the different halves of our races then we could have did some serious damage

We must arrange a relay. Haha

diego_b

Excellent report, nice to read of the pain at the other end of the race too!! I did spot you in a pic that I think was taken around 9.5 miles, nice grimacing! Serious fairplay for giving it your all and getting the result that you earned. Nice to meet you too.

mister paul

Great running and report P. Was good to meet you on Sunday.

Swashbuckler

mister paul wrote:

Great running and report P. Was good to meet you on Sunday.

Well done you. Both on the pb and winning the smackdown. Great to meet you too.

aquinn

Really great to meet you and again massive congratulations on the race. Some time. Fair play to you.

Baby75

Fair play to you, great running and some awe-inspiring determination at the end

AuldManKing

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Miles 4 to 6 and 10k split;
5.59/6.01/6.00 - 37.23
Madness really when I think about it now.


Miles 7, 8, 9 and 10 splits;
6.01/6.00/6.08/6.02.
Ten mile split was 60.12. That's a big PB over ten miles...

Suffering like hell now. No two ways about it.

Official time was 1.19.48. Gun time was four seconds slower at 1.19.52. Mile splits for 11/12/13;
6.11/6.08/6.27

Just didn't like the way it came about. That race kicked the crap out of me. Harrowing to be honest. It's funny. You train and train and feel strong as an ox but then get the crap kicked out of you by the race.

.

I think thats an amazing performance - your 10k split and particularly your 10m split show a super run - and there is NO WAY that you can expect to run those splits and not suffer at the end.

I really think that it was you that kicked the crap out of the race - yeah you cramped, it was sore - but the level of work that you put into that performance shows the strength that you've gained over this cycle - you got the result - a sub 80 and a massive PB.

Swashbuckler 1 - Charleville 0

Swashbuckler

Cheers A. That's probably a better way of looking at it. I guess afterwards it was just hard to get my head around how battered I felt. A bit of a negative reflection really. It's funny I've often gone back and re-read some of my reports and feel different about those races on reflection. Charleville will probably be the same.

healy1835

Taken from the 2018 goals thread......

Sub 1.30 HM
Achieved. 1.21.44 in Limerick

....

What a great first half to the year. So I guess I need a new set of goals for the second half.

1.20.xx in Charleville HM. Tempted to say sub 1.20 but we'll see.

Job done pal. You'll revisit the HM in 2019 in sure, but for 2018 you've done what you set out to do and then some

Swashbuckler

Cheers J. Yeah in all fairness that was on my radar afterwards. I've achieved sub 18, sub 30, sub 37 and sub 80 which if I remember right were goals at the start of the year or at the mid year review. Didnt expect it to hurt so bad tho. Haha

Swashbuckler

Pretty torrid week on the personal front led to no running Monday or Tuesday.

Managed to get back to some semblance of a routine by Wednesday albeit not 100% mentally and very tired from lack of sleep. No better day to head into XC training! In fairness to coach I was told to take it easy until things settle but I practically begged could I do the session if I was able. If anything for some mental relief. He reluctantly agreed but told me to dial back the effort for the first few and build from there if I was able.
Planned 10x60s at 5k effort off 90s Jog on the grass. A handy little session to gently ease me into it. Been off work all week so headed to a local soccer pitch for this. Definitely a new feeling running on grass.
Tricky enough to dial into effort on grass. It will take a bit of getting used to but I fully trust I'm well able. And it will stand to me going forward.
The session itself was good. I was a bit drained anyway but just went on feel. I figured I'm not gonna get these spot on from the very start so I'm being a little patient with myself.
Pace splits were 5.43/6.05/5.38/5.46/5.26/5.21/5.22/5.18/5.25/5.12
A bit all over the shop. Enjoyed the session. Felt a bit more human after.
Total for the session - 7.35 miles

Thursday - Easy 7M at 7.52
Felt no I'll effects from the session. Couple of nags this week from the big race effort last weekend but they're starting to ease.

Friday - 4x1M at 10k Effort off 3mins on grass.
Tricky enough to find lumpy grass routes in these parts. Headed out to the venue for the new Mungret parkrun. The parkrun itself isn't the lumpiest but the fact I was on the grass meant I could cut across and zig zag around the place and include more lumps and bumps. Took the missus with me and her and baba had some fun in the playground while I ran around like a madman. I made a point of not taking the easy options on this. As I wasn't following a set loop I sought out as many hills and lumps as possible. I really enjoyed the session. I think I'll like this XC stuff. Legs felt like jelly at the end. Loved it. Pace splits were;
6.24/6.13/6.16/6.27
Tricky enough to dial into effort but pleased with how it went. Not each rep was equal in terms of hills. Some had more than others.
Total mileage for the session - 7.36 miles.

Saturday - Easy 12M at 7.54
Nothing major to report apart from a little tiredness by the end. Need to start dialing back the pace a tad on these runs.

Total mileage for the week 34 miles. A little low but that was unavoidable. Good riddance to that week. But very excited about this XC stuff. A nice welcome change.

MY BAD

Nice one! After you're half pb dialing back is the best thing to do, but I find myself itching to get out again after a good race. Were you wearing spikes on that session?

Swashbuckler

Mellow Yellow 26.2 wrote:

Nice one! After you're half pb dialing back is the best thing to do, but I find myself itching to get out again after a good race. Were you wearing spikes on that session?

It wasn't really meant to be a dial back week as such. Mileage should've been 14-18 miles more but circumstances took over. Sessions were dialed back a bit in particular Tuesdays.

No spikes needed. The ground was very solid.

hot buttered scones

You'll definitely find the paces different on grass, and it'll train you to get better at judging effort rather than going by a particular pace.
Hope all is well with you now.

Swashbuckler

Another solid week. Feels like that's become my token opening to my log updates at this stage. I must come up with a new phrase. With a lot of personal stuff still going on, this week was a struggle to fit in the running but I was determined to do so, if at least for my own mental wellbeing. I managed it somehow. Still off work but back to the daily grind tomorrow which should get me back into some sort of a routine again.

Monday - Easy 7M at 7.58. Out very early on this one. A lot on my mind. Can't say I enjoyed this one all that much but got it done.

Tuesday - 1/2/3/4/3/2/1mins off equal recovery at 5k effort. Recoveries to be steady/moderate pace. On the grass again. I must say I'm very much enjoying the grass sessions. It's a different feel entirely. Headed to the local football pitch again for this. Another mentally heavy day with the session providing some much needed mental and physical relief. The 1/2/3 sections weren't too bad. Effort level felt pretty spot on. 4/3/2 were tougher tho and the final 1min was fine as the session is done at that stage! . Grass was a little softer and wetter this week. Had to remind myself a couple of times that I'm targeting effort here and not pace. That's the biggest learning curve I'm noticing. Felt pretty strong on this and pleased with progress. Recoveries at that pace weren't easy! Pace splits were;

5.19/5.30/5.47/5.44/5.47/5.32 with all recoveries run in 6.46-7.10 range.

Between warmup and cooldown total mileage was 8.2 miles.

Wednesday and Thursday Easy 7M. Again had to run Thursdays very early in the morning as it was babas first birthday. Was pretty groggy on this one. Legs weren't too bad after the session.

Friday - 5x5min at 5k effort off 2mins jog.
Headed to the lumpy park in mungret for this again. Some nice little hills. This one was tough and again had to remind myself at times to focus on effort and not let it go to 5k or faster effort. Work hard on these. Grass definitely heavier this week. Was fairly fatigued by the end. On analyzing the splits after I was pretty surprised at the consistency. Pace splits were;
6.23/6.22/6.26/6.20/6.20 with plenty of ups and downs included. All recoveries between 8.14-8.49. Tough going. This stuff will definitely toughen me up for sure. Total mileage for the session was 7.82 miles.

Saturday - Easy 12M at 7.54.
Tired legs for sure. Definitely noticing the legs are more fatigued at the end of the week. Nothing special to report on this one. Was glad to get it done. Another very early one.

Been another tough week with three or four of those runs starting before 7am. Back to work tomorrow so will be back to a more normal routine. Sleep has been OK but not great. So I'm happy the running hasn't been completely derailed. Very happy that I've managed to keep things ticking over despite everything. Missed Saturdays Senior XC due to my girls party. Wouldn't have it any other way. The lads ended up winning the county senior. Next weekend is county Novice/Masters which will be my first experience of XC. Can't wait.

skyblue46

I'm really looking forward to your XC experience. Is that the main focus over winter or will there be some road races as well?

Swashbuckler

skyblue46 wrote:

I'm really looking forward to your XC experience. Is that the main focus over winter or will there be some road races as well?

It's definitely my preferred focus for sure but if Luke suggests a road race at any stage I wouldn't rule it out. But the appetite for me is definitely focus on the XC. I plan on racing as many as possible - likely two or three in Nov/early Dec.

Swashbuckler

As with most race days of late I'm very caught for time so will need to keep the weeks update short in favor of a fine hefty race report. Haha.

Monday Easy 7M
Tuesday 6x3min at 10k effort off 2/2/2/1/1 on Grass
Wednesday Easy 7M
Thursday 3M AM and 7M PM
Friday Easy 7M
Saturday 3M shakeout with strides
Sunday County XC Novice and Masters

Felt good this week. Mileage maintained but intensity slightly reduced with the race in mind. Session went well but was as tough as I've come to expect from these grass sessions. Used the Mungret loop again and hit as many hills as possible. In terms of the rest of the week no complaints. Life is back to normal again. Back at work. Back in routine.