Chapter 2 - Finding Nemo

Swashbuckler

Said I'd make a bad effort at updating my log from my phone. Given the festivities ahead over the next few days I won't be near my pc.

Monday and Friday were the usual session days. Tuesday (7M), Wednesday (5M) and Thursday (7M) the usual easy days and Saturday (12M) the usual long. The long and easy days average were between 8 to 8.15 minutes per mile. Nothing major to report apart from the fact the legs were a bit more tired towards the end of this week especially Sat long run. Baby has been a bit more of a handful this week but all good.

The sessions were fun as always. Tuesday was 14 x 90s off 50s recovery targeting 6min/mile pace. This was a progression on the 12 x 90s off 60s recovery from five weeks ago. Shortened recovery this week to counter the improvement in fitness felt last week. I can't remember the splits exactly but all were a bit on the fast side. Some as quick as 5.45. Coach didn't give me a bollicking so I got away with it. To be honest even at the faster splits I felt good which is a good sign.

Fridays session was 5k Threshold at 6.10 to 6.15/mile target pace (target total time near 19.20) followed by 6mins easy followed by 4x200m targeting 38 to 40s for each. Ill be honest it was tough. I haven't sustained that kind of effort level for that length of time since Oct 3rd. I did it in 19.10. It wasn't all out by any stretch of the imagination but a very challenging, decent effort. Plenty of zip left in the legs for the 200s which were 36/38/38/38s. I do tend to always veer on the quick side of what's prescribed which is OK as long as effort levels aren't going through the roof. I need to tune into pacing better I think.

All in all another good week. Total mileage around 47 miles ish. Plan is to take today and tomorrow off and back to it then. I'm racing a five miler on new years day so it'll be interesting to see what coach has planned for the week.

Thanks to anyone who has taken the time to read this log and give inputs. I've taken a lot of inspiration from a lot of you on here especially the DCM novices. A genuinely nice, helpful bunch of people in this thread and I've learned a tonne. Hopefully I can give back some decent advice over the next while too. Next time I update this log it will hopefully be with my first Boards race report! Enjoy the Christmas everyone. This will be my first with our baba so we're very excited. Take care and be safe over the holidays.

hot buttered scones

Have a great Christmas yourself and I hope Santy is good to the baba!

Swashbuckler

hot buttered scones wrote:

Have a great Christmas yourself and I hope Santy is good to the baba!

For an 11 week old he's probably been a bit too good

Swashbuckler

Update for this week. Race week so a mini taper week...

Monday off. Christmas Day and no way was I getting away with running.

Tuesday 7M easy.

Wednesday 12 x 60s On/60s Off. Target 5.45. Lovely session done with Thomond Park as the backdrop. Went a little quick on all 12. Maybe that's overenthusiasm with a race coming up but the main thing is all were controlled and far from all out effort.

Thursday 5M Easy

Friday 7M Easy

Saturday 6M Easy + 5 x 15s strides.

Racing today. First time racing since August so I can't wait to see where I'm at. Never ideal prep being at a New Years Eve party the night before a race but kept it pretty sensible. Snacking on food was the main issue. Things are gonna change from now on. Gonna start taking race week and lifestyle choices in general more seriously. I have some pretty lofty long term goals for myself so I'll be making the lifestyle adjustments necessary from now on. Next time I write here it will be with my first race report. Happy days.

hot buttered scones

Best of luck - hope it goes well for you.

Swashbuckler

Limerick Country Club New Years Day 5M Race Report

Happy to be able to say I'm back racing again. Took a sabbatical from racing when my little girl was born to prioritise supporting my missus and baba. Things are pretty settled at this stage so no better time to get back racing. Woke this morning with the nerves that I had missed so much. The body fearing what it was about to go through. A familiar feeling. Amazing how the body knows what's coming.

Had a decent brekkie at 10am. Tired from the previous night. Was sensible enough but bed late and baby feed at 4am left me a little groggy. Adrenaline would take over. Headed down to the country club to collect my number. Decided to put more effort into my warmup than I had in previous races. Did an initial warmup with some easy miles. Then closer to start time did some strides, active stretching... Good to go...met up with one of my buddies who was marshaling and got some positive words of support. We lined up at the start line and off we went.

Mile 1
Had chatted with coach prior to the race and we agreed I should start conservatively and ease into it. Use the endurance I've built up for the big hill and see if I could push on from there. I started pretty conservatively alright. I made a point of having my watch under the sleeve so I would ignore it and purely run on feel. Given the big hill and the occasional gusts of wind I didn't want to be following pace on a watch. First mile established the different packs. The leading pack of about five or six went off ahead. No way was I sticking with them. The trailing pack a bit slower than me... And me in the middle on my own. Lol. That's the way it remained for the race. Nothing to chase and nothing to escape!
First mile was into the wind. Slight downhill. Passed by without much to report. Felt pretty good. Clocked it at 6.09. Not bad. Given the wind that was closer to 5.55 effort.

Mile 2 was the beginning of the hill. A long, hard 1.2 mile struggle. Tough going. But I genuinely did feel a difference to previous races. It was tough but not as tough as previous races if that makes sense. Clocked mile 2 at 6.22. Tough but expected.

The first part of mile 3 had the remainder of the hill and then the nice downhill section. I was surprised at my recovery. Heart rate dropped and I felt "good" again. Clocked mile 3 at 6.05. Decent again. Took a quick look behind me and nobody within touching distance. The leading pack were way ahead. No catching them.

Mile 4 had the remainder of the downhill and then flattened out. This was where I clocked my fastest mile. A good sign that the training is paying dividends. Clocked mile 4 at 5.39.

Now just to hold on to the finish line. It's always at this part of a race where I question how I'm feeling and is it normal. At this point I'm usually clinging on. Nothing extra in the tank. Just make it to the finish line. Constant positive reinforcements in the mind. Hang on almost there. Oh Jesus where is that fecking finish line. There it is thank feck. Looked at the clock and it's just ticking over the 30min mark. Finished in 30.07 with a last mile of 5.49. So close to sub 30 but that was never what today was about. Today was all about getting back on the horse so to speak. And technically it's a pb as I've never ran a 5 miler before. Haha.

Learned a lot today and it really got me thinking.
1. Running without the pressure of a watch and paces was a pleasure.
2. Running on feel is interesting. How should any stage of a race "feel". Isn't it very subjective? Should I feel strong at the end? Should I be just hanging on? A learning process for sure..
3. 5 mile races are fun. That bit less painful than a 10k.
4. Testosterscone knows his stuff. Everything he predicted and what we've been working on paid dividends. I was relatively strong on the hill. I recovered well. I was able to kick on. I finished pretty strong. Bodes well for the next few months.
5. No matter how fit you get racing will always hurt. That's something that took a while to get my head around. I always thought racing would get easier but it doesn't. You just push yourself harder and faster and suffer the same!

So there u have it. First race down and raring to go. Feeling very positive about the year ahead. Next up is Barefield 5k at the end of the month. Bring it on.

Duanington

Well done P - there are lots of PBs ahead this year for you if you keep the consistency going.

Interesting reading through your thoughts post race - in particular point 5. There used to be a log around here that was titled "It never gets easy, you just get faster" and I think we often underestimate how learning to stay comfortable through the discomfort is a skill in itself that we have to master.

Well done again, looking forward to seeing how you go over the next while

Swashbuckler

Duanington wrote:

Interesting reading through your thoughts post race - in particular point 5. There used to be a log around here that was titled "It never gets easy, you just get faster" and I think we often underestimate how learning to stay comfortable through the discomfort is a skill in itself that we have to master.

I often asked myself midrace - when is this going to start getting easier? I asked myself when I was running a 45min 10k and asked myself when I was running a sub 38. I've learned that it doesn't get easier (for me anyway) and as soon as it does, it means I'm probably not going as hard as I should be. One thing I have noticed is what you touched on, dealing with the pain becomes more manageable. But in turn I've noticed my pre race nerves have got worse over time knowing what I'm about to put myself through.

diego_b

Swashbuckler wrote: »

I often asked myself midrace - when is this going to start getting easier? I asked myself when I was running a 45min 10k and asked myself when I was running a sub 38. I've learned that it doesn't get easier (for me anyway) and as soon as it does, it means I'm probably not going as hard as I should be. One thing I have noticed is what you touched on, dealing with the pain becomes more manageable. But in turn I've noticed my pre race nerves have got worse over time knowing what I'm about to put myself through.

Nowhere near your paces but I can fully emphasis with these feelings and thoughts! Nerves before target races and paces are more apparent for me now than they used to be.

Swashbuckler

It's probably why I love running to be honest. If I stopped getting those nerves then where's the excitement?

diego_b

Swashbuckler wrote: »

It's probably why I love running to be honest. If I stopped getting those nerves then where's the excitement?

Haha true, it's a great feeling when it comes together on a day and you probably surprise yourself with what you can actually do!

Swashbuckler

diego_b wrote: »

Haha true, it's a great feeling when it comes together on a day and you probably surprise yourself with what you can actually do!

Definitely. I went into yesterday with some doubts as I hadn't run 6 minute miles sustained effort for anywhere near 5 miles since August. So that feeling at the end when I saw the clock was definitely a good one.

ariana`

Well done on the 5m PB Swash. Sounds like you ran a perfect race.

hot buttered scones

Swashbuckler wrote: »

1. Running without the pressure of a watch and paces was a pleasure.
2. Running on feel is interesting. How should any stage of a race "feel". Isn't it very subjective? Should I feel strong at the end? Should I be just hanging on? A learning process for sure..
3. 5 mile races are fun. That bit less painful than a 10k.
4. Testosterscone knows his stuff. Everything he predicted and what we've been working on paid dividends. I was relatively strong on the hill. I recovered well. I was able to kick on. I finished pretty strong. Bodes well for the next few months.
5. No matter how fit you get racing will always hurt. That's something that took a while to get my head around. I always thought racing would get easier but it doesn't. You just push yourself harder and faster and suffer the same!

So there u have it. First race down and raring to go. Feeling very positive about the year ahead. Next up is Barefield 5k at the end of the month. Bring it on.

Duanington wrote: »

Well done P - there are lots of PBs ahead this year for you if you keep the consistency going.

Interesting reading through your thoughts post race - in particular point 5. There used to be a log around here that was titled "It never gets easy, you just get faster" and I think we often underestimate how learning to stay comfortable through the discomfort is a skill in itself that we have to master.

Well done again, looking forward to seeing how you go over the next while

Well done, and a great result for your first race back. Point 5 is one that jumped out for me as well, and I'd agree with Duanington's take on it too. I actually think it gets harder as you get faster - you suffer more! It kind of ties with the 2nd point for me - the more experience you get the more you learn that you can take a lot more pain than you think you can, and for longer than you thought you could. The more you race, the more you learn and the less you'll rely on the watch. I see a good year ahead for you.

Swashbuckler

ariana` wrote:

Well done on the 5m PB Swash. Sounds like you ran a perfect race.

Feels weird being called Swash. Haha. Cheers Ariana. Must catch up on your log. Haven't had a chance to catch up today. How's the training going?

Swashbuckler

hot buttered scones wrote:

I see a good year ahead for you.

Cheers lad. Hopefully. As long as I stay injury free I think the consistency, enthusiasm, motivation and guidance is there. Fingers crossed. Never loved running more.

ariana`

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Feels weird being called Swash. Haha. Cheers Ariana. Must catch up on your log. Haven't had a chance to catch up today. How's the training going?

Whoops sorry! I wouldn't mind but 2 of my kids have names that people tend to shorten and it drives me (a small bit) nuts when they do

All good, you've caught up since i see

Swashbuckler

ariana` wrote:

Whoops sorry! I wouldn't mind but 2 of my kids have names that people tend to shorten and it drives me (a small bit) nuts when they do

Haha no it's not that. It's just the username Swashbuckler was something I chose off the cuff years ago and I always find it odd when I'm referred to by it haha.

hot buttered scones

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Haha no it's not that. It's just the username Swashbuckler was something I chose off the cuff years ago and I always find it odd when I'm referred to by it haha.

It could be worse.....

Swashbuckler

hot buttered scones wrote:

It could be worse.....

Haha but everyone loves hot buttered scones

Swashbuckler

Another decent week. Very happy with how it went.

Monday - As documented I ran the Limerick Country Club 5 miler. Finished in 30.07 and placed 6th. A solid start to the year. Decent warmup and some strides. Total mileage 8ish. Got some nice messages of support after. Very kind.

Tuesday - Recovery 5M at 8 minute mile avg . Legs felt fine. A little tired for sure but nothing too bad.

Wednesday - Easy 8M with Storm Eleanor. Decided to go safe and run the sheltered route around the industrial estate. GPS was way off for this run and recorded pace and distance way off the mark. Ended up doing 8 miles even at avg of 8.10 pace. Funny running in that wind. At once stage I almost went backwards and the watch said I was going 7.30 pace. Not a hope. Lol

Thursday - Easy 8M. Very early start as I had to travel to Trim for a wedding at 10.30am. Very enjoyable run. Felt very positive and spent most of the run thinking of the year ahead and just generally thankful for how I'm feeling with my running lately.

Friday - post wedding 7x800m session. Funny, I had been researching routes near the wedding venue but hadn't settled on a route. I said I'd take a drive around when I got there to see what the roads were like and if anywhere was suitable. Got to the hotel for the wedding and laughed. The car park was more or less the shape of a perfect oval 400m track. The wedding the night before was great craic. Had a few drinks and went to bed at a reasonably sensible hour. It says a lot about my change in mentality towards my running that I went to bed at a decent hour and didn't get blotto ! Woke up the next morning and set off for the warmup. It was a bitterly cold morning.
Plan was 7x800m targeting 2.50ish (5.45 pace) with 2.15 recovery. This was a weird session. Not to be blowing sh*te but the pace felt unusually OK. I even day dreamed a bit during one of them and had to check myself to get back focus. Nailed each split and was delighted with how it went. It's not often I execute these sessions exactly as prescribed. Each one was within a second or two of target. Very happy. With warm down the mileage totalled 8.3 miles.

Saturday - back in Limerick for 13M easy. My favorite long run to date. Was a lovely calm day. Little chilly but I was well wrapped with my fancy tights and chicken legs that my wife has a good laugh at these days. Run went great. Averaged 8min miles (seems to be my default easy pace) and stopped off at the shop at the end for a big carton of chocolate moojoo. Yum. Legs tired by the end but feeling strong.

Been consistent since Testosterscone has come on board. Happy with my running. Had a chat with himself and he asked if I'd like to run Adare 10k. Delighted with that as it's a race I did last year and enjoyed. I had assumed I wouldnt be able to as I was targeting Ennis. It actually got me thinking about my attitude to my running. In the last year I've been the type of guy that targeted a specific race. But T's philosophy to racing and training has actually made me rethink this. Why put all your focus onto one target race. It puts a lot of pressure on that one race doesn't it. What if it doesn't work out. What if the weather doesn't agree on the day. Now that I'm running multiple races in the first half of the year I think my mindset is shifting. Yes I want to run pbs but I think general improvement has moved to the forefront of my mind. Ennis isn't the be all and end all of my year. Anyway just my random thought for the week.

Total mileage 50.9. If only I'd have ran an extra 0.1 in top of the 13. Sigh....

ariana`

That's a brilliant week, 50+ miles, I'm in awe

Swashbuckler

ariana` wrote: »

That's a brilliant week, 50+ miles, I'm in awe

And truth be told that's a lesson on how to build mileage sensibly from a proper coach.

Last 8 weeks - 43, 45, 45, 48, 44, 47, 34(xmas), 51.

Last year I was in the 30's. Then stupidly tried to get up to 55 too quickly.

Swashbuckler

My favorite time of the week. Baby asleep on my lap, coffee in hand and the missus getting some well earned rest. What better time to update my log. This week has had some very good log updates in particular Duaningtons XC escapades and Singers Disney exploits (well worth a read).

Anyway my week looked tough on paper when I got the email from T. Was looking forward to the challenge though.

Monday: The usual easy 7M to ease me into the week. Ran it at 8.08/mile. Took off on my lunch break and ran the first couple of miles with my buddy. He took off on his own strides session after mile two. Nothing unusual to report apart from the fact the legs were fresh, something that is noticeably different to eight weeks ago.

Tuesday: 16x300m. 60s Off. Target 60-62s per 300m which equates to 5.20-5.30 pace. I had done these 5 weeks ago and they kicked the sh*t out of me. I had to walk the recoveries the last time but managed to do all 16 at prescribed effort. Revisiting these would be interesting to see how I had come on. So in summary they still kicked the sh*t out of me but less so. The short recovery is tough. This time I managed active recovery on all. I felt solid throughout. Less of a struggle. By the end I completed most between 58s-61s. A few were slightly higher at 64s. Needed to adjust pace against a headwind on a few. All in all very happy. It's a belter of a session and one I like. Total mileage 8.3 miles.

Wednesday: Easy 8M at 8.02/mile. First few miles were slow but the legs warmed up a bit. Kept the effort level at easy throughout but definitely felt the after effects of the session for the first few miles.

Thursday: Easy 8M at 8:01/mile. Had a rough night the night before. Little one going through a leap so she's waking and feeding and fussing a lot more. I think she woke at 1am 4am and 7am. Not only that but I felt a bit of a throat on me. Ran the 8miles but didn't feel great. One of those days where I felt no rhythm and didn't particularly enjoy the run. They have been few and far between but it's important to acknowledge it. Even the most enthusiastic of runners have days where it just feels crap. Was happy when it ended. Emailed T to ask about the Friday session. The sessions are ones I don't want to miss so the plan I had was to give it a crack and worst case if I couldn't manage it I was hoping to salvage something from it. T said go ahead with it and if not feeling 100% scale back the pace. More about effort level than actual pace.

Friday: After a better night's sleep and a few hot whiskeys I felt much better.

3*600m(90s off)/3*1000m(120s off)/3*400m(75s off) @5.40/mile. See what I mean about a tough week on paper?
Set off on the 600s and closely monitored how I was feeling. Energetic. Pep in the legs. All good. The 600s passed by handy enough. 5.43/5.43/5.49. Pleased with those splits considering the headwind on the last.
Next came the 1ks. These worried me when I saw them on the plan. But I was "pleasantly" surprised. Yes they were tough. Felt controlled though. Effort level was manageable but not all out. 5.37/5.38/5.42.
Finished up with the 400s. Probably got a little overenthusiastic on these as I knew the worst part of the session had passed. 5.24/5.31/5.30. That was a fun session and given my doubts going into it I was pretty happy after. Total mileage 8.3 miles.

Saturday: Easy 13M at 8.06 average. Spent the morning with the little one and got the nod from the missus to head out around 11.30am. Decided not to plan my route and just floated around limerick city. Really enjoyable. Legs were tired by the end and have been more fatigued this week. I like those long runs. Able to daydream away and clear the mind. Noticed a lot more runners this week. Plenty of saluting and nods going on. Nothing like a new year to get people out on the roads.

Sunday: Rest.

So a very solid week with a slight dip in the middle but recovered nicely. Total mileage for the week was 52.6 which I think is my highest total ever. Feels like things are building well. 5k coming up in two weeks so all going well I'll have a good crack at that. The structure of the training has been very interesting over the past eight weeks which T was kind enough to break down in detail. Always interesting to understand the why as opposed to just accepting and going out and doing what you're told.
One thing I haven't talked much about on here is the impact of a newborn on training. Recovery is definitely more difficult with the waking during the night. If this was 8 weeks ago I'm pretty sure my body would have broken down by now especially the way I was training. But with the right training/coaching it's definitely more manageable. I didn't expect to be making the gains that I have this soon and in all likelihood I wouldn't be if it wasn't for the coaching.

Got the email for next week's plan. Coach is going soft. Nice handy week ahead

Swashbuckler

A week of ups and downs!

Monday had the usual Easy 7M - 8.02/mile average. A nice easy run. Freshed up the legs nicely. Nothing major to report.

Tuesday - (3*400)+(3*800)+(3*400)+(3*600)-90s Recovery between each-Target 5.40 Pace
Nice looking session on paper! Not so nice when I looked at the conditions outside. The wind was howling around the estate - Hailstones, rain, you name it. It was like the apocalypse out there. haha. I managed the first set fine. Effort level was as planned with slight adjustment made for tailwind in places. The 800's came as a bit of a shock into some strong wind and the effort level was much too high for the third 800. I was buckled after it. Stupidly tried to maintain the pace into a stong headwind. After that I think all of my recoveries were walking. I manage to get a bit of a second "wind" (see what I did there?) for the 600's but I was fecked after this session. Self inflicted in fairness but my stubbornness took over I think.
Split paces were as follows;
400s - 5.30/5.28/5.33
800s - 5.32/5.35/5.39
400s - 5.38/5.53/5.34
600s - 5.38/5.49/5.43
Total mileage with warmup and cooldown was 8.61 miles.
Really really tough to do a proper session in that weather. But so be it.

Wednesday - Easy 8M - I had travelled up to Ashbourne with work on Tuesday night for two days. Weather on the way up was very bad. Ashbourne was snow covered. Myself and my work buddy said we would survey the conditions in the morning. Low and behold conditions in the morning were terrible. Slushy and icy. So I was resigned to hopping on the treadmill in the hotel gym. Given I used to spend at least two or three hours a week on a treadmill you'd think I wouldn't mind I just cant abide them anymore. I hated it. Did the 8M Easy but it felt like three hours on there. Time dragged. The gym was humid and sweaty. Nope - give me the great outdoors any day.
I surveyed the conditions before going to bed that night and most of the snow and ice had melted. Wind was very strong but I was hopeful I'd get outdoors the next morning.

Thursday - Easy 8M - outdoors (thank God). Yep conditions were perfect. We set out on the main road very early in the morning and quickly realised the street lights stopped after about 400m. So we turned back and planned to just do laps up and down of Ashbourne town. Luckily we managed to stretch the first lap to the end of Ashbourne to 3 miles, then 3 miles back to the hotel, then a mile back in, then a mile back out. I was just happy to be outdoors. If you had asked me to run 100m back and forth for 8 miles I'd have still been happy!

Friday - Got back home from Ashbourne Thursday evening. Was pretty tired but nothing out of the ordinary. Woke up in the middle of the night feeling very weak. Cold sweats, stomach in bits. Slept in the spare room to spare my wife and little one the annoyance of me shuffling around. Didn't feel great the next morning. I had a planned session of 3 x 8mins at 6.10 pace. I said I'd head out for the warmup and see how I was. I decided to do laps of the estate so in the case of an "emergency" I could just pop back into the changing room at work. After the warmup I didnt feel the worst. Maybe at 50%. Did the first 8mins and pretty much knew by the end of it I was abandoning the session. Was gutted but it was the right choice.
Fair play to coach he was in touch as soon as he saw my Strava. We agreed to change the next day to a shorter run and abandon the planned 13M but only if I felt up to it.
Got a good rest on Friday night and was feeling better. I met some resistance from the missus in relation to doing the shorter run Saturday morning. Our daughters christening was later in the day and she was worried I would reset my recovery. With some coaxing and convincing, off I went (i'm stubborn as a mule). In fairness I did feel way better. Did 6M easy and felt great after. Looks like it was just a 24hr bug.

So that was my week. Total mileage was 41.6 miles. Very short of what should have been a ~51/52 mile week but that's fine. I'm thinking long term here. Nothing to be gained by over doing it and being out for a few weeks. As coach said, in a year from now I won't even remember an abandoned session and missed long run.

So next up is the Barefield 5k on Saturday. I'm feeling in good shape. Can't wait to hit the start line. Nice weeks training ahead with the race in mind so hopefully the prep goes well. Love those 5k's.

ThePiedPiper

Fantastic start to the year for you, training is very impressive. Congratulations on the baby girl. Keep up the great work.

Swashbuckler

ThePiedPiper wrote:

Fantastic start to the year for you, training is very impressive. Congratulations on the baby girl. Keep up the great work.

Cheers Piper. Hard work and a decent coach! Hopefully we can maintain throughout the year and beyond.
Thanks for the congrats on the baby. Changed my life for the better. Oddly enough she was the kickstart that made me obsessed with running.

OOnegative

From a former nag in the glue factory to one of the new prize race horses, best of luck in Barefield on Saturday.

Swashbuckler

OOnegative wrote:

From a former nag in the glue factory to one of the new prize race horses, best of luck in Barefield on Saturday.

Haha cheers for that. I have no idea who you are in real life though. Haha

Swashbuckler

Barefield 5k - Race Report
(Race 1 of the Run Clare series)

Well its been a few hours and I've had a chance to absorb and reflect so why not get the race report in. Things have been building nicely over the past few months so I went into today with optimism. Being completely honest in my mind I was hoping for sub 18. But today turned out to be a lot more than a time on a clock.

In the run up to the race I wasn't really "feeling it" all week. Hard to explain but I just felt no sort of flow or groove to my running atall. Felt a but lethargic even. Coach and Duanington reassured me it can happen with a taper sometimes. Interesting, and I'll put that down to experience, because I felt anything but lethargic today. Lesson 1 - trust Coach (and Duanington). Speaking of Coach I had an email with words of encouragement yesterday from himself. Those words actually stuck with me before and throughout the race. Something about the words resonated with me. Nice to have some motivational words to keep you going. Funny how sometimes it takes someone else to tell you your strengths. I need to have a bit more faith in myself.

Had a fun night with baby! She was fine but woke for feeds at 1am and 5am. I pretty much didn't go back to sleep after the 5am feed. Got up at 7am and had a good early breakfast. I like to leave a decent gap between eating and racing as food doesn't seem to agree with me so close to running. First experience trying to get a baby ready on a race day. It went surprisingly well.

Got to Barefield pretty early. Got the race number and chilled in the car with the missus, baby and my buddy who was targeting sub 20. Weather conditions weren't great but not horrific either. Rainy and a stiff breeze. Headed out for my warmup. Wasn't sure what direction I was going but it turns out I was going the opposite direction of the last 800m of the race. This would stand to me later.

The start of the race was delayed by 25mins due to feck ups with the registration which was frustrating because by then I had pretty much cooled down. We got a five minute warning so I quickly did some strides to try to warm back up. I was right up front with all of the fast looking guys. Haha. A few last good luck wishes to my buddies and off we went.

Took off pretty quick but nothing crazy. I was surprised how in touch with the leaders I was after 500m which I took as a good sign. I had my watch set up to lap every mile. It's just habit at this stage. First mile was reasonably flat. Into a bit of a headwind with one or two bumps but nothing major. Phone buzzed after a mile. 5.49. Hmm. A little disheartened as it felt quicker. Suddenly I'm a bit conscious of my pace. Start checking the watch a few times (stop looking at your watch Paul). By about halfway I had found myself isolated a bit. The leaders had pulled about 15s ahead and there was a decent gap behind me. Check the watch for pace again as the effort level felt like it had dropped slightly(stop looking at your watch Paul). Got a bit annoyed at myself and made a conscious decision to absolutely not look at the watch under any circumstances for the rest of the race. I know it sounds silly/dramatic but very rarely has looking at my watch ever helped me in a race. It has either made me feel bad that I wasn't meeting my expected pace or I saw a very fast pace and thought I should ease back a bit. I did a good job in my New Years Day 5 miler without using it so I decided to have a bit of faith. So no more watch gazing. By now the gap of 15s had pretty much stayed the same. Turns out my second mile was 5.51. This was a combination of a couple of drags in mile 2 but also a drop in effort level for a bit. I think I just became a bit hypnotized by the group in front and settled in to the pace a bit too much. Don't get me wrong, still tough but maybe not as tough as it could be for that section of that makes sense.

Coach had said to me a few weeks back that nothing replicates a race. Those last second decisions that you can't replicate in training. His was right. I looked ahead and said feck this. I'm chasing the guy at the back of the pack down. I could see the leading car up ahead (a first for me) and counted I was in 6th place. Let's see what I can do. I started to reel in the fifth place lad... As we turned up a hill I saw the next section was the route I had run on my warmup. So I knew exactly the distance to the finish line. That was enough for me to kick on. I took him in the hill (fruits of the strength building over the last few months). He was behind me and I was pushing on by now. Now I have my eye on the guy in fourth. I'm giving it a lot at this stage but I know I'm able. I kick past him and he responded a bit. No way am I giving up this place so I surge again. I manage to establish a little gap. I can see the top three ahead but I can also see the finish line so there's no way I'm catching them (I wouldn't have caught the top two regardless). Look over my shoulder and know I'm not getting caught. The clock reads 17.50 and I'm still a bit from the line. Sub 18 isn't there for me today. I cross the line 18.05 in 4th place. 19s behind the winner. Only a few seconds behind third. Not the pb I hoped for but a pb all the same. Last mile was 5.46. 5.10 for the "bit". Greeted by a cheering wife and sleepy baby at the finish line. Happy days.

Today was a strange one in a good way.
If you had said to me beforehand I'd run 18.05 I'd probably have been a little disappointed. I obviously have notions of myself haha. But I thought about it after and today was much more than a time on a clock. I felt stronger than I ever have in a 5k. The difference in strength especially on and after hills is still surprising me. I was never able to run like this so the training is working.
All in all a good day.

Lessons learned today;

1. Sometimes you'll feel crap on race week and still pull out a result.
2. I'm one of those people that runs better ignoring the watch and running on feel.
3. Coach told me to be aggressive. I was a bit tentative in stages. A bit fearful of not knowing the course and getting a shock with some massive hill. Also a bit fearful of being so close to the leaders. Am I running too hard? Do they know something about this course that I don't. Haha.
4. Having someone to chase down or keep ahead of helps massively. I'm a bit sick of running races in isolation.
5. The training is working. The times mightnt exactly reflect huge improvement so far but the reality is I'm a different runner. Strength has increased massively. And with that I'm gaining confidence.
6. I have a lot of work to do to get to where I want to get. But it's all about doing the right work and I feel I'm getting that with Coach. So the future is bright assuming I can stay healthy.
7. It's fun being in contention

So that's my day today. A few of my buddies ran well. The guy I travelled with got a pb but not the sub 20 he hoped for. His day will come. Work buddy smashed it. 19.40. Delighted for him.

Loving these race days. Great motivation and looking forward to seeing how everyone gets on in Raheny tomorrow. I suspect I'll see some wicked times from some of the lads on here.