Once in a Lifetime....for now

skyblue46

Swashbuckler wrote: »

You're going to be one of those anomalies that crosses the line in Japan to complete the grand slam of marathons at the ripe old age of 100 and when they ask you what was your secret you'll say "I ate sandwiches every day"

PMSL. :pac: Funny thing is I rarely eat sandwiches at all. I'm not a white bread fan. But after races, Jaysus the craving for sandwiches with mixed salad or egg mayo filling is just insatiable. I think I swallow them whole without wasting time on chewing!

On the subject of a few aggressive races, yes it is something I plan to do probably in some BHAA races. I remember Testosterscone mentioning trying different approaches....effectively having some throwaway type races. For now the OCD side of me just wants to get my PBs a little more in line with each other. My 44:xx needs removing.

Swashbuckler

skyblue46 wrote:

On the subject of a few aggressive races, yes it is something I plan to do probably in some BHAA races. I remember Testosterscone mentioning trying different approaches....effectively having some throwaway type races. For now the OCD side of me just wants to get my PBs a little more in line with each other. My 44:xx needs removing.

Well I'd definitely agree with him. And I've taken his advice. I've done the super aggressive thing and bombed out. I've gone conservative. I've done a mix. Seems like there isn't a right or wrong and every individual race is different.
The way I look at it is all going well I'll be racing for years so what's to lose.

I think the 44.xx is a gonner.

OOnegative

All the best tomorrow evening in Dunshaughlin.

scotindublin

Good luck tomorrow Sean.....that 44 minutes is going to be smashed.

Hopefully see you milling around the start line.

skyblue46

OOnegative wrote: »

All the best tomorrow evening in Dunshaughlin.

Thanks a million, looks like it will be a warm one!

scotindublin wrote: »

Good luck tomorrow Sean.....that 44 minutes is going to be smashed.

Hopefully see you milling around the start line.

Yeah I'm sure I'll bump into you at some point. Have a great run yourself.

eyrie

Not long to go now!! :eek: Hope it all goes well and you've a great run

Baby75

Good luck tomorrow S enjoy it, run hard, eat cake

skyblue46

eyrie wrote: »

Not long to go now!! :eek: Hope it all goes well and you've a great run

Baby75 wrote: »

Good luck tomorrow S enjoy it, run hard, eat cake

Ah sure I'll give it a good go anyway! That's the post race feed....:pac:

As for the race....10kms hard running in the heat....scares me much! :eek:

Murph_D

Best of luck, S. Sure we are all well acclimated by now. No bother to you.

skyblue46

Last few days of the Grads 5/10k training plan and the Dunshaughlin 10k. Again a really enjoyable plan with plenty of variety in the sessions. I'd recommend it to anyone who is no longer a novice as a great stepping stone rather than jumping to some of the advanced plans around. Some of the training plans taken on by newbies are just way ahead of what's needed, probably detrimental in fact.

Wednesday 20th: 6*1 min @ VO2 Max. (5:49-5:56 min/ mile) Warmup and cooldown brought it to 6.6 miles. Paces were 5:47, 6:07:, 5:40, 5:46, 5:42, 5:52. These are pretty unreliable as tree cover and the short durations meant the gps was jumping all over the place. A great leg loosener!

Thursday 21st: 45 mins very easy. 4.6 miles at a very sedate 9:50 pace

Friday 22nd: 3.4 miles. A couple of very easy miles and 5*100m strides. On the 3rd of the strides I felt something on the outside of my right hip. I have had it before and know it's something I can run through. It normally takes a couple of weeks to fade away.

Saturday 23rd: Dunshaughlin 10k. Race report to follow

Sunday 24th: Recovery run of sorts. Just went out to see how the legs were. I had no planned route and made my mind up at each junction which way I'd go. Cracking morning. Ran up by Glasnevin cemetery to Cross Guns, down the canal to Fairview via Croker and Ballybough and then back up Griffith Avenue. Lovely run, 7.5 miles @ 9:14

Weekly Miles: 38
Monthly Miles: 154
YTD: 1,137

skyblue46

Dunshaughlin 10k

I had been really looking forward to this race for two reasons, firstly the number of good things I had heard about it and secondly as it came at the end of my 5/10k training block...my target race as such. The race time predictor gave a time of 40:38 based on the recent 5 miler I ran. I had felt pretty optimistic I could do this once I was prepared to hurt as much as in that race. The heat and the hip niggle that hadn't gone away had removed much of that optimism...41 minutes was the new target. It would still be a 3:25 PB. Met Scotindublin at the start line and had a little chat as we waited for the gun. His targets were a few seconds better than I was hoping for but I guessed there wouldn't be much between us on the road.

KM 1: Even with the wide road the start was very congested. I still can't figure out why people don't start in a position more in tune with their abilities. It was like an obstacle course. That said I didn't mind at all as I was planning an easy first km. 4:08 for this opening stretch.

KM 2-6: As it turns out C paces his race in much the same way as I do. He was 5/10 yards ahead most of the way and we were passing plenty as we went. It felt a nice controlled effort with no surges or drops in pace. Splits were 4:01, 3:59, 4:02, 4:01 and 3:57. I went through half way in 20:20 pretty much on target without ever using the watch to make a decision on pace. It just felt right.

KM 7: This feeling of relative comfort probably led to me making my mistake at this point. There was a pretty sharp drag only about 100m long but I think I attacked it too hard. I briefly got onto C's shoulder but had to fall back a bit on the slight downhill to recover. Split was 3:56 which I think was too fast for a km that included that drag. I was soon to find out how much it took out of me.

KM 8-9: There was a slight drag here that I really struggled on. It was such an effort to maintain pace. I moved past C but I was now into survival mode and not remotely thinking about a fast finish. Km 8 was 4:04 and I could feel the pace dropping and the effort levels nearing Max. I wanted to ease off so much...but didn't want C to repass me :pac: Jesus it's hard...thoughts of AMKs run your best race on the day comments came to mind....dig this one out...pump the arms...Km 9 was 3:57

KM 10: Sweet mother of Jesus I thought the last mile in Raheny was tough, then Dunboyne was tougher but this was a new level of pain. I wanted to stop, I actually would have if I could have found a quiet spot to do it. But the wonderful people of Dunshaughlin were everywhere...there wasn't anywhere to step off without being seen...800m...oh just hang on and run you coward! Each 100m felt like a mile. Didn't focus on anything else until I crossed the line and slumped over the barrier gasping for air.

Shortly after this C crossed the line and we grabbed some water and moved clear of the finish line. We got a chance to check times and I was amazed to see mine stopped at 40:00.2. Then my brain went haywire....delighted with the time (a 4:20 PB) sad to be so close to sub 40 and not get it (3 tenths of a second). I was switching from delighted to depressed like a swinging pendulum :pac:

As C and I did a little cooldown I began thinking maybe chip timing would save me...maybe I had started the watch a fraction before the line...or stopped it a fraction after...anything...please get me that half second from somewhere!!

I went inside for the highlight of the evening, yes the sandwiches! A huge big thanks here to the ladies of the ICA for a magnificent feed. Ham, turkey, tuna, chicken, egg mayo, mixed salad...the lot! A bountiful banquet of bread and fillings. Lots of cake and biscuits too. Well done to all concerned. I had a bit of a chat with ReeReeG whose evening hadn't gone to plan. A really lovely girl and no doubt she'll be back fitter and stronger in no time.

I went online to see if the Gods of chip timing had bestowed some good news for me but alas not. They had actually managed to find 7 seconds so 40:07 is my shiny new PB. I was a bit down afterwards but some very kind messages from some of my fellow 2017 Graduates (and a few pints) had me perked up pretty quickly.

A great race, brilliantly organised, fantastic support from the locals...if only every race was like this!

ariana`

Super report S. And brilliant running. You paced that so well in the first half and hurt like a trooper in the second half, so impressive and so much more to come - watch this space, sub 40 won't be long and i bet when it comes you'll do it in style

Wubble Wubble

Another massive PB in the bag. Great to be able to battle your way through the hurt. Well done!

Testosterscone

Super run man. Don't worry about the 40 min, it's an arbitrary barrier like any time main thing is you took a huge step up in performance and that is something the clock won't take away.

Swashbuckler

Excellent stuff S. Digging in like you did is what it's all about. You can't really train that mentality. That's better than any sub 40. The future is bright. The skies are blue! Great run. Ballsy.

scotindublin

Brilliant effort Sean and great to catch up with you (well not in the last 400m)on Saturday.

Big improvements again and reinforcement that your hard work is paying off.

C

Baby75

What great racing, pushing your self through that hurt !!! epic and what it is all about

Well done on a PB that sub 40 is there for the taking S I hope those pints went down a treat

Murph_D

Terrific, again. The upward spiral continues. Well done!

Kellygirl

Brilliant report as usual and an amazing race. That’s some pb!!!!

eyrie

Just reading that report evokes pain! :eek: The time is very impressive, obviously, but I am seriously envious of your ability to go for it, dig in, and just suffer it. Not back off.
Congratulations on a terrific performance, delighted for you.

skyblue46

So it's 2 weeks since I updated this! Well I'll save ye all the bother of not reading what I have done. Paces etc etc that you don't want to read and I'll never look back on. It's grads base plan time and for details on what I have done just check out the plan....lots of very easy miles, a couple of MLRs, one particularly enjoyable moderate pace run where it was great to get some leg turnover again and the pleasure of the company of Damo and Lazare for an hours running in the Phoenix Park on one of these amazing mornings we are getting used to.

Next race is the Mullingar 10 and before that a couple of days on the Waterford Greenway for hopefully some scenic running. Grads plan starts in 2 weeks and I can't wait!!

Miles this week:53
Miles last week:52
Month to date: 65
YTD Miles: 1241

Baby75

Enjoy Waterford Sean the greenway is on my todo list

MY BAD

That's an unreal pb well done. Don't worry about sub 40 that's definitely on the cards and beyond

shotgunmcos

Mellow Yellow 26.2 wrote: »

That's an unreal pb well done. Don't worry about sub 40 that's definitely on the cards and beyond

A dip at the line will do it!

eyrie

Been dying to run along the Greenway myself, do report back!

skyblue46

Ok so the last 2 weeks of the base plan done and I really enjoyed it. Averaged about 54 miles a week over the duration of the plan mostly at easy and very easy pace. The 50 minute moderate pace run and the 2 progression runs were most satisfying to do.

Did the Deise Greenway last week. 2 days, 15 miles on day 1 and 13 miles the next. It's a beautiful place to run if a bit lacking in varied scenery. Probably better to walk or cycle it. We weren't breaking our long runs to do touristy things like stopping at coffee shops! :pac: We stayed in a smashing apartment in Dungarvan for the 3 nights. It really is a great town for eating and drinking out.

My running streak finally came to an end. I had a rest day after 119 days of lacing up the runners.

I'm pissed off to be missing the Mullingar 10 this weekend. The young lads team are playing the All Ireland QF in Armagh on Saturday. They won the Leinster title last Saturday....one very proud Dad! Hopefully they win and get a big day out in Croker by being the curtain raiser to the senior All Ireland on August 11th. It says a lot about my state of mind that missing Mullingar is annoying me more than a clash with DCM would have!

Today is day 1 of the grads DCM plan and I'll kick on with it because I love the look of it, can't wait to get stuck in and also because it will improve me whether I 'race' DCM or not. 10 from 10 and Ratoath are now the only definite races I have pre DCM but I can see that changing.

Murph_D

No harm in asking. What will the marathon target be (seeing as it’s going to be your last)?

skyblue46

Murph_D wrote: »

No harm in asking. What will the marathon target be (seeing as it’s going to be your last)?

The target will be to stay motivated enough to actually do it. I wondered up to very recently how you, Wubble, Scotindublin and Swashbuckler could possibly plan a years running without including the biggest event in their schedule...now I get how it could happen.

I'm swerving away from an all out effort truth be told....maybe run around with the 3:30 pacers and enjoy the day doing the waving and high fiving stuff :pac:

Just to add...I'd love to see your itinery/ budget for your trip to the Dolomites. It looked amazing.

Murph_D

Somehow I don’t think that 3:30 lap of honour will happen. I don’t really understand the appeal of a high-five marathon to be honest - might as well give it whatever you have on the day! You might feel different once you get teeth into a schedule. Although it’s getting a little late in the day, is it?

Will PM you about the hiking stuff.

OOnegative

Why bother training for a marathon if it’s going to be a High 5 affair? Most of us run/train to better our previous selves, not to sound harsh but I see little point doing what your doing if that’s your goal at the end of it. From my own mindset, if I wasn’t training towards a PB I wouldn’t bother with the effort involved. We’re all different though.