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Once in a Lifetime....for now
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Wednesday 23rd: The legs felt grand after the race the night before so I stayed local and got in 6.5 very easy miles @ 9:03
Thursday 24th: Great day for a grass run in the Phoenix Park. The plan had 60 mins very easy but it was too nice a day to leave it at that. Huge tented village for the Staff Relays that were held later that day. Very impressive. 9.6 miles @ 9:03
Friday 25th: I went out for a walk with herself around the cliff path in Howth followed by a smashing feed of cod and sautéed potatoes in a ridiculously good creamy chorizo sauce. Went home and waited a couple of hours for the tummy to even consider a little run. Got the hour very easy done. 6.8 miles @ 9:02
Saturday 26th: Poppintree Parkrun at tempo...nothing much more to add. There and home brought mileage to 8.6
Sunday 27th: For some reason the legs felt good so I ended up doing this at easy/ moderate pace but it felt really good. The Phoeno on a Sunday morning is really like a little piece of heaven on earth. 10.7 miles @ 8:24
Monday 28th: 20 minutes recovery shuffle. 2 miles @ 9:50. Really only did this to keep my consecutive days streak going! :rolleyes:
Tuesday 29th: BHAA Dunboyne 5 mile. I was really looking forward to this for a couple of reasons. Firstly I had stood watching it 12 months ago as my OH ran it. Back then I had just started running some way regularly but considered myself way below the level to take part. Little was I to know that I'd run 2000 miles from that day to this. Secondly it was a chance to measure progress since my 33:51 in Raheny and to start putting some definite shape on my target pace for Dunshaughlin 10k.
What a warm evening! The singlet got its first airing of the year and boy was I glad. I met Browneyes of our novices group for a little warmup and had a chat about what our targets were. She was hoping to break 40 minutes for the first time but was kinda terrified at what that pace would do to her. I tried to reassure her that the grads plan she has been following would put her in a good place to do it. As for me, I was still dithering. To try to do 4 minute Kms for as long as I could or to do 4:06/7 and get a nice little PB? 20 seconds before the gun I decided on the former!
Sadly the plan went awry from the start. In deciding to keep well back from the fast lads I started too far back. The first 500m was a slow, heel avoiding obstacle course. Even though I got into a rhythm it led to a 4:10 first k. I decided that rather than chase lost time I would try for the 4 minute splits from then on. The next couple of Kms were slightly downhill and felt very comfortable. Splits were 4:01 and 3:57. At this point my head started playing games with me. Doubts were creeping in. No way could I do a 20 minute 5k from here! The legs were, while comfortable, starting to notice the effort. Next K was 4:03 and the road was now beginning to go slightly uphill. Not even a drag but just not flat! :pac: I tried to maintain the 4 minute splits but the effort required was rising dramatically. The next 2 were 4:04 and 4:02 but by now I was totally fooked and just wanted the pain to be over. My focus shifted from catching people ahead to keeping those I had already passed behind me! The last km I was running on empty, beyond empty actually. The lap of the track felt like an eternity but I dug in as deep as I could and reeled in one last victim who started the lap a few yards ahead of me. 3:52 for the last km, 32:23 gun time and 32:15 on the watch.
Recovery came quickly enough thankfully. A big mention here to Sean Hehir who was walking back the finishing chute with a congratulatory word and a handshake to everyone in the line. A very classy gesture I must say.
Got back over to the finishing straight after gobbling a plateful of top notch sandwiches just in time to see C finish in 39:4x. I was delighted for her. We grabbed a few more sandwiches (it'd be a shame to let them go to waste), some cake and then went for a little cooldown. It really is a fantastic race and will be a regular for me in all certainty!
Wednesday 30th: Off up to Drogheda to see the Meath minors play against Louth in the Leinster championship and my youngest make a good impression off the bench. As a diehard Dubs fan I still fail to get overly enthused by this Meath teams recent table topping form.
His comeback from injury is going well. Hopefully he'll be starting the games soon. Before the game I went out to Oldbridge and got in an hour run on the Boyne Greenway. It's a beautiful little route made even better by the recent weather. 6.6 miles @ 9:03
Thursday 31st: Kept this one to a minimum. 4 miles really slowly. Not feeling it at all. Too many mornings getting up before 3am for long shifts in work and not enough sleep. This was to be an hour but I felt it was wiser to cut it short.
So 3 weeks and a bit until Dunshaughlin. Unfortunately I made an ass of my planning and the Grads plan still has 4 and a bit weeks left! :pac: I'll have to decide which two of the remaining sessions in the plan to leave out. Decisions, decisions.
Sorry for going on a bit.....0 -
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Swashbuckler wrote: »See what always amazes me is not you're top notch performances but how you can stomach sandwiches after these races.
Haha...sandwiches are life! It's the first thing I think about after I cross the line Have my races picked out between now and October based on the probability of good sandwiches and cake. Not an Irish Runner or Dublin race series race amongst them due to the omission of good old fashioned grub post race. Nutty protein bars my ass! :pac:OOnegative wrote: »Ah come on, he’s a Dub....... Savage performance again, your in a rich vein of form. Keep it going.
Dub and proud! Thanks for your kind words. If I can continue it for 4 more weeks I'll be a happy man0 -
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So today is a big anniversary for me. One year ago today I found the 2017 DCM Mentored Novices thread on Boards! :pac: A huge thanks to all who have helped and motivated me in that time and to all the other novices who shared the journey with me up to last October and now into preparing for DCM '18. Special mention goes to WW, AMK and Scotindublin of course for their amazing work on last years novice thread. Also to Testosterscone for his plans and advice which have been my bedrock since January and will continue to be as I will use the Grads plan for DCM. All the contributions by posters here have been invaluable to me. Little did I know how badly the bug would bite or how many miles would be run from that day to this...2118.7 to be precise! :pac: Here's my first post....
"Hi there, 50 years of age. Started running early 2015 on couch to 5k app. Got as far as half marathon that year before injury on the day ended my year. Didn't run at all in 2016. Started back in March this year. Getting out 4/5 runs a week of which one is a lsr (15k last one) and the rest are between 5 and 10k.
5k: 22.51 - Last 5k of Irish Runner 5 mile last weekend.
5 Mile: 37.17 - Irish Runner 5 2017
10k: 50.50 - Last 10k of DCHM 2015
10 Mile: 1.22.13 - Frank Duffy 2015
Half: 1.48.43 - DCHM 2015
Targeting 4 hours as a realistic ambition."
I've knocked good chunks off those in the meantime even if that 10 mile time is the one that still stands. I have two 10 mile races in July and August so hopefully can knock 10- 12:14 off that!
Anyway back to the present. The 5/10k plan had been going swimmingly until the past two weeks. Not sure why but confidence has taken a knock, taper madness is killing me and runs are feeling humdrum and 'samey'. Two CV sessions being harder than they should be knocked the confidence, the taper I'm not liking after getting into a routine of 50 mile weeks. The boredom on runs is mostly because, for numerous different reasons, I have been running the same local roads over and over. Dunshaughlin at the weekend and that will be given a good crack one way or the other! :pac:
Wednesday 13th: 5*5 mins @ CV. (6:24-6:32) Actual: 6:31, 6:31, 6:29, 6:31 and 6:25. I know that looks grand but it wasn't. All leaned towards the slower end of the range and felt more like VO2 Max efforts. Worryingly it's the second consecutive CV session that I have felt like this.
Thursday 14th: 70 mins easy. 7.8 miles @ 9:04. Local Finglas, Glasnevin and Whitehall roads again.
Friday 15th: 60 mins @ recovery pace. 6.3m @9:30
Saturday 16th: 20 mins easy. 2.3 @ 8:52
Sunday 17th: 2km time trial. I had never done one of these before and didn't quite know how to set about it. Ended up targetting the predicted 2km race time from the predictor, running the first half too conservatively, picking it up well but finishing 9 seconds outside target with far too much left to give. Not lots but at least 9 seconds worth :pac: Strava kindly informed me that I had set new personal records for half mile, km and mile but just by a second or two. Not great considering previous bests were in 5k races. Really enjoyed the blowout though. Warmup and cooldown brought me to 4 miles for the session.
Monday 18th: 20 mins recovery jog. 2.1 miles @ 9:19
Tuesday 20th: 45 mins easy. 5.2 miles @ 8:38
YTD Miles: 11050 -
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Swashbuckler wrote: »Have you taken much (any) downtime from running in the last year?
:cool: eh....next question please
I try to tell myself that my two 20 recovery runs are active recovery :pac: Other than that....didn't run during either of the weeks we had snow and took 4 days off after Bohermeen in March. Since then it's 92 days in a row...0 -
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I think something very close to 41:00 The 5 mile was done off an easy first Km, average of 4:03 per km for the next 6km and then a faster but absolutely dying last Km. I think to make it possible to survive the last 2km I will have to try average the middle 7/8 km at 4:06 after a 4:10 first Km. After that I will just give it what I've got. So nothing between 40:40 and 41:40 would surprise me. All that assumes perfect weather, perfect legs, perfect diet, perfect sleep :pac:
Not asking for much eh :pac:
I think you might surprise yourself, you've been so consistent with the training. P gave me good advice on my log - not to look at the watch in the latter part of the race, if the pace is good it's an excuse to slow down and if it's not it's an opportunity for negative thoughts so instead just kick a$$, you've got this 0 -
Not asking for much eh :pac:
I think you might surprise yourself, you've been so consistent with the training. P gave me good advice on my log - not to look at the watch in the latter part of the race, if the pace is good it's an excuse to slow down and if it's not it's an opportunity for negative thoughts so instead just kick a$$, you've got this
About 7/8km will be the last look at the watch which I will react to. After that it's a case of finding a balance between how fast I can run without my legs folding, my lungs turning inside out or passing out!0 -
skyblue46 wrote:About 7/8km will be the last look at the watch which I will react to. After that it's a case of finding a balance between how fast I can run without my legs folding, my lungs turning inside out or passing out!
That's literally the trick. How fast can I go and still make the finish line. Haha.
By the way I misread your previous post. You had two weeks off during the snow. That counts as a break.
You'll have a good strong field of runners around you in dunshaughlin which will help. In the last 2km pick a guy who's going a tiny bit quicker than you're comfortable with going and follow him 0 -
Swashbuckler wrote: »In the last 2km pick a guy who's going a tiny bit quicker than you're comfortable with going and follow him
That's been a problem for me in the few races I have run. I have been trying to do pretty even paced races and pretty much achieving it. My first km I always use as a settler but that tends to leave me well behind runners of my standard who bolt from the line. It means I spend the race passing people but never have anyone to get a good tow from...apart from one young lady at the Bob Heffernan :pac:0 -
Not asking for much eh :pac:
I think you might surprise yourself, you've been so consistent with the training. P gave me good advice on my log - not to look at the watch in the latter part of the race, if the pace is good it's an excuse to slow down and if it's not it's an opportunity for negative thoughts so instead just kick a$$, you've got this
I'd go so far as to say ignore the watch completely for the entire race but 1. That's very difficult to do and 2. Not even I'm brazen enough to give that advice knowing what I'm like in the 10k when it comes to checking the watch.0 -
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Swashbuckler wrote: »Yeah I get you and it's a very hard one to judge. It gets easier with practice. I suspect you might have a bigger field in Dunshaughlin so it might be less spread out.
Going slightly conservative on the first km of a 10k is probably better than the over-aggressive route. But at some stage have a crack at just being a little aggressive. Nothing to lose. It's just a race. You wont even remember it in 30 years!
I'm not likely to be alive in 30 years!! 0 -
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