If I didn’t log it, it didn’t happen

MiniMonstera

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122787794#Comment_122787794

Super report, well done on sub 4!

Olwyn is fab. I also ran with her and Fozzie for the half this year and their pacing was remarkable, definitely got me over the line - 17 seconds under the 1.50.

Reading your report, I don't think I'd have managed that 4.00 pace group for long. I can only do o much accidental bumping and elbow touching before it gets stressful - how people do it for an entire marathon is crazy to me - the risk of missing water stops alone would put me off. When I overtook the 4.10 pacers I couldn't get away fast enough - just wanted space.

Congrats again!

passinginterest

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122790032#Comment_122790032

Thanks a million. I read both your half and marathon reports just after I posted mine and realised we must have been pretty close together for both.

I was happy I wasn’t in the group from the start too. It was definitely claustrophobic at times. Just as I joined someone dropped a belt or something and stopped dead to try pick it up. Nearly caused an actual fight because a few people were lucky not to fall.

It was great to just have them in the distance for the first 30k and then once I did join it meant i could stop looking at my watch and just try and relax to the end. It definitely helped me in the half to not be constantly checking pace (especially because I felt it was impossibly fast early on but I just put my trust in them!). Must be a very stressful job for them and they do it so well.

passinginterest

A little check in on where things are and plans for this year. Took the full month of November off as my knee still wasn’t right. Ran just once a week in December. So fitness and weight started going in the wrong direction.

Knee was still a bit niggly but managed to get back to more regular training in January. Having a Raheny 5 mile entry gave me a push to get back. Got out consistently, three days a week in January and started to rebuild a bit.

Target setting for Raheny was tricky. I reckoned I was in shape for at least sub 42 after a 24.39 parkrun, mid 10 mile run, the week before. That was the C target I suppose. B target was to better my Corkagh 5 mile from last year (41.16). A goal was sub 40 but really didn’t know if I’d have the endurance for it.

In the end, it went better than expected. Awful weather cleared as we started and it was decent conditions. Definitely started a bit faster than intended and was worried going through first mile in 7.54. Was pulling back pace for second half of first mile and settled into a steady pace then. Consecutive 7.58 miles followed and I was still feeling ok. Mile 4 had a fairly big descent to the seafront and I clocked 7.56. I knew that downhill meant a climb in the last mile but I was pleasantly surprised to be able to hold pace and even push on a little. 7.44 for the last mile and 39.28 overall. Lovely start to the year.

Unfortunately, picked up a bug after Raheny an it really disrupted the last few weeks. Just over 83 miles for January was grand if not spectacular. Only managed 13.5 miles each of the next two weeks. Not ideal with Tony McGowan half coming up in Leitrim.

Headed to Leitrim with no expectation, had only managed a couple of 10 milers in Jan so it was going to be longest run since DCM. Ran most of it with club mates and got pulled a good bit ahead of 2hr pace. Paid for it from 10 miles when my endurance just ran out. Still came in at 1.59 even so happy enough. Bohermeen in 3 weeks, Tallaght 5k in 4 weeks and Dublin Half in 6 weeks so aim is 1.55 bohermeen and 1.50 dublin. 23 something for the 5k.

That should give me a good base for next stage of the year. Terenure 5 mile in May is a target for me. Will prob aim for marathon race series up to the half then. Overall goals for year:

5k: A - 21.30, B 22.36

5m: A - 36.00, B 37.26

10k: A - 45.30, B 47.06

10m: A - 1.16, B 1.18.44

Half: A - 1.42, B 1.44.32

B goals are based on 60% age grade. My all time PBs are mostly around that level. But I was 11 years younger for them. So the goal this year is same age grade level and then next year aim for the actual PBs!

passinginterest

Had a couple of solid enough weeks after Leitrim. Only 75 miles total for February after the couple of weeks struggling with sickness.
16.69 miles the week after Leitrim. Didn’t run until the Thursday because I was fairly wrecked. Attempted a 24 minute tempo that was made very difficult by a gale force wind. Got in a 10 mile long run that weekend but again found it tough.

The following week was much better. 26 miles with a 10x400s session the the Tuesday and the same long run on the weekend but far more comfortable.

This week ended just under 30 miles including Bohermeen half. A good hills session on Tuesday and 3x1 miles (5k pace) off 90 seconds on Thursday. Found the 5k pace hard to find but was happy to get something like that done for the first time in ages.

Not tapered at all for Bohermeen. Won’t get into the farce around the start. Don’t think it massively hurt me anyway. Target was to run 8.45 per mile and see how far I’d get. Made it to just past 11 miles and hit the wall. Had to take a couple of short walk breaks to get to the end but I know I’m still lacking the mileage overall so no real surprise I’m struggling once it goes past 10.

Average pace for the first half was 8.43/mile so was fairly good with the pacing. Looking back now mile 10 and 11 probably killed me. 8.39 mile 10 was my joint fastest and 8.44 in mile 11. It’s not the hilliest course, but looking back I can see mile 11 is the most climbing on the whole route. I should have eased back instead of trying to hold the pace. Heart rate went into the red and couldn’t recover from it. Last two miles were a bit of a slog (9.25, 9.39) with the walk breaks thrown in. Came home in 1.55.54. Goal had been about a minute faster. 3 minutes off Leitrim in 3 weeks so can’t really complain.

I haven’t had a particularly focussed block of training. I reckon I’m probably in best shape for something like a 10k. Endurance not really there for much longer and haven’t really got the speed work for the shorter distances. Tallaght 5k next and it will be a good test. Aim is sub 23.30. Should be very doable but did find it hard to hit the pace on the mile reps last week. Won’t be really tapered either as Dublin City half is just around the corner.

Had been hoping to be sub 1.50 for Dublin half but think that might be a bit too much now. Something like 1.52 or 1.53 might be more realistic.

Terenure 5 mile is still the main goal for the first half of the year and if I can build on this run of half’s and add some more specific 5 mile training I think I’ll be in a good place. Sub 36 is the A goal. A race PB would be B goal (38.21). C goal would be better than Raheny (39.28) but I think I’d have to have an injury or a few weeks off between now and then to not improve on Raheny.

Second half of the year, I’ll target the race series 10k (46ish) and half (mid to low 1.40s). Would like to give Rathfarnham 5k a good spin too. Always looks like a good fast race and the date hasn’t suited with marathon training in previous years.

passinginterest

23.02 for the Tallaght 5k. Have to be pleased with that. Wasn’t sure about the looped course when I saw the map but it worked very well and it’s definitely fast.

The race marked my year anniversary as an official member of the club too. I’ve gained some great training parters and don’t think I’d have had a hope of making the sub 4 marathon last year if I had attempted to train solo again. The atmosphere around and after the race, the work of all the volunteers, etc. really represented the best of the club.

Would like to have made a bit more progress on the 5k over the year, but still went form 24.47 down to 23.02 in that time. With no marathon this year the focus is really going to be on improving that now.

Got the pacing about right. 7.25 for the first two miles and managed to pick it up then. Maybe could have started to pick it up a bit sooner but would have really risked blowing up. Using age grading, it’s my 4th best 5k ever and it’s a top 10 outright.

Disrupted week this week with work travel and a wedding so not ideal with Dublin half around the corner. Debate is whether to go out and just enjoy it, or to go out hard, maybe try stick to 1.50 pacers, and see how far I can get before blowing up again! Second half of the route is probably the faster half of the wind is not bad on the coast so might gamble on going for 1.50. I’m getting more comfortable with trying to go hard and suffering a bit, especially at this point of the year, where I haven’t built back up the long runs very much.

Learning how to feel the blow up coming and how to deal with it if/when it happens is potentially usefully when really chasing times in future. From Leitrim to Bohermeen, I think I’ve learned that 30 seconds walking is better than getting to keep slogging when I’ve hit the limit. The other side of it being that I saw and felt it coming in Leitrim, I felt I was pushing hard from early on and the writing was on the wall, but it caught me a bit by surprise in Bohermeen and in the space of about 400 meters I went from feeling pretty good to walking. I might try keeping an eye on the heart rate in Dublin and try slow a bit earlier if it’s redlining.

passinginterest

I’ll start with the positives. Just over the 100 miles for March. First 100 mile month last year wasn’t until June. I’m well ahead in terms of my paces too with the Tallaght 5k time being 1min 40 better than last year. On the Dublin half, overall race experience was excellent. Into town early and got on street parking in a great spot just off Lombard St. Bag drop etc. was very handy. Orange wave was packed. I was right at the back and joined the portaloo queue about 8.10. Got out, after nearly puking with the lovely smell at 8.28.

Decided to go for conservative enough start and see if I could pick up pace with the favourable profile in the second half. I thought 1.52 was in range, 1.50 if the day was perfect. In hindsight, had a wedding the weekend before and a lot of people were sick after, I wasn’t too bad but resting heart rate was notably up mid week and my notoriously dodgy tummy was acting up.

Anyway, as usual, I ignored this things and went with the original plan. First mile was grand, I didn’t mind the congestion and building into it fairly slowly. Clocked in at 8.41and picked up on the fairy flat second mile to 8.32. Eased off on the long drag of mile three and four, clocking 9.03 and 8.55. The 1.50 was realistically already off the cards at that stage and I was trying to keep an eye on heart rate a bit and I was already working harder than I hoped (over 170 seems to be point of no return at the moment).

Once the more favourable part of the course kicked in I did start to push on again. Great buzz going through the mile where most of the Tallaght AC volunteers were posted. Mile 5 was 8.30 followed by 8.24 and 8.21. Tried to gather myself on miles 8 & 9 with the drop onto the coast road, I knew I was getting dangerously close to the red line. They came in at 8.32 and 8.33. Tried to tuck in and just follow some bodies in mile 10 but I was starting to blow up and dropped off to an 8.51 pace.

It was a mental game now of trying to work out if I could keep jogging and ease off the pace enough to recover or if I was going to have to stop for a walk. Got to 10.7 miles or so (by Garmin) and I was cooked. Decided to walk and take in the view for a bit. I’m miles away from PBs or even my best from last year so decided to just try and recover and take as long as I walk as I felt like. Walked for over 2 minutes and got moving again. The mile clocked in at 10.29. I was still struggling though and took another similar length break at 11.6 miles.

This time it was enough to properly recover and I managed to get back up to a decent trot until the end. 10.11 for mile 12 and 8.48 for mile 13. Not much of a kick for the last bit with 8.06 average pace. The finish stretch was great, although I did nearly trip on the first blue carpet as I wasn’t doing a great job picking up my feet!

Crossed the line in 1.57.13. Three half marathons in 9 weeks wasn’t a great idea. Especially with the best part of 8 weeks off following DCM and no training runs over 10 miles. Learned a lot in terms of where my fitness is and when it’s better to stop and recover rather than keep slogging. Probably could have gotten in under 1.55 if I’d had it in me to really suffer on Sunday, but it would have been pointless. I’m trying to build fitness and wanted to at least be able to take some enjoyment out of the day.

Main focus now is Terenure 5 miles. I really want to see 36.xx on the clock and I think it’s very doable. Looking at some BHAA 5ks, maybe Naas 5 miles too. Irish runner 5 mile, and then DCM race series 10k, 10 mile and half. I still think I can get into the low 1.40s by the September half. But main focus now is 5k-10k and getting some speed into the legs.

passinginterest

I guess mixed is how I'd say things have gone since the Dublin half. I struggled a bit with consistency, a couple of good weeks would be followed by a poor week.

91 miles in April, only 68 in May, 94 in June and 132 in July. Unless something dramatic happened this week will hit 145+ this month.

April was ok. I was under pressure to complete a dissertation for my MA and picked up a bug towards the end of the month. No races but a 22.45 parkrun which was my best by age grade all time. The fact it was in the middle of a 10 mile run was a plus.

Went into May looking forward to Terenure 5 mile and having a go at 36.xx. the bit of a bug not long before and a very warm day meant it didn't really go to plan. Was pretty much cooked after two mile at 36.40 pace but just about held it together for 38.27. Doing two sessions and no easy runs in the week before also a mistake.

Followed up with a solid run in BHAA Sandy mount beach race. 23.23 just three days later with a couple of miles on sand was a confidence booster. Then things took a turn for the worse. A toothache ended with an infection, an extraction, and two doses of antibiotics. Really knocked the stuffing out of me and had two weeks with only one run.

Club races every Tuesday in June. Maybe skipping some would have been better but they were good craic. No great performances. AAI 5 Mile at the end of the month was a solid run. More conservative approach than Terenure and was happy with 38.08.

July started with the last of the club races and then the Fingal 10k. Another very warm day for Fingal and decided early to abandon plans for a fast time and just aimed to get around under 50. Struggled to get going but kept it solid all the way for 49.22. Another BHAA race four days later and surprised myself with 21.55 on a flat and fast Irishtown park route. July was by far the most consistent this year and the long run went up to 13.5 miles by the end.

Hit 14 miles on the first two long runs in August and was in decent shape for the Frank Duffy 19 mile. Though maybe 1.16.xx was possible but having had a few blow ups this year was a bit apprehensive. Went out a little faster than planned and suffered a bit on miles 8 and 9 (a very fast mile 6 was probably the biggest error). Maybe pulled it back a little more than I needed as looking at the data after I didn't fully red line it until the end. But I wanted to get to the end reasonably strong and it worked out fairly well. A realtively small positive split wasn't bad on the course. Finished in 1.17.52.

Next target is the Lucan 5 mile. Will see what I feel like on the day but it might be my first time going after an actual PB (other than marathon) for the first time since 2014. That PB is 35.27 so probably still a step too far but definitely getting close with training going well. Then onto the Dublin half, think sub 1.42 should be on. And if I recover well a shot at sub 21 in Rathfarnham 5k the following week.

passinginterest

Felt great going into Lucan yesterday. Had a fairly light week, with a 400s session on Tuesday to get a feel for a bit of pace. Thought I fuelled and hydrated well and legs felt brilliant on Sunday morning.

I decide I’d go all out for the PB. Garmin prediction was 35.13, Runalyse was a bit higher at 35.43. PB of 35.27, so with the body feeling so good I decided to have a go.

Got there in nice time and was still feeling good after a warmup on the track. But I did try to ignore that is was getting very warm and humid. That’s been my kryptonite in the past but I never learn. Was sweating up a storm after the warmup. I should have gone and gotten some liquids into me but didn’t and maybe should have had a small bottle of electrolytes for the race, but didn’t! Also had a gel to take about 10 minutes before the start and forgot about it.

Anyway. Had looked at the course profile and most of the uphill was in the first mile. PB plan was 7.10ish first mile and try go sub 7.05 to the end. Got in a good spot for the start (had a side eye on a club medal in the 35+ team) and started pretty smoothly. Had a club mate with me who was thinking 35ish too so was pacing off him a bit. Didn’t look at the watch too much, just a quick check to make sure I hadn’t taken off miles too fast. Was feeling ok and hit the first mile pretty much bang on target in 7.07.

Into mile 2, I was composing myself and trying to relax coming onto the canal. The 35 minute pacer had come past and my club mate was still just ahead. I knew I could pace just off that and I’d be on track. But the effort level was getting really high along the flat section and a glance at the watch I could see my HR was way up. Tried to take it very easy coming up the hill off the canal but I was starting to struggle to hold it together now and the gap was growing quickly to the 35 minute group. Mile two was still more or less on track at 7.08.

I knew I was in trouble when I was struggling the get going again on the downhill. Tried to compose the breathing, relax the shoulders, just focus on striding out but I was slowing down and finding it very hard. Passing half way I knew the PB was well gone but kept trying to just relax into some kind of solid effort. It wasn’t happening though, and on the long straight slight drag to the 3 mile marker I was starting to tread water and felt a bit faint. When the 3 mile buzzed in at 7.43 I decided to just step to the side and walk for a bit to try and get my breathing under control.

After about 30 seconds I was moving again but my HR was back through the roof and I couldn’t seem to pick up any pace. Mile 4 was just torture to be honest. I didn’t even see what time it registered on the watch because I was just willing the finish line to magically appear. It was even worse than I’d have thought at 8.31. I had assumed that no matter what happened I’d run quicker than the 38.08 from Irish Runner at the end of June but that horror mile meant even that was slipping out of reach (although I wasn’t really aware).

I did try and do a rough calculation of what was needed in the last mile in my head and tried to pick up the pace again but I was holding together by a thread at that stage. I thought the turn into the track was never going to arrive and I could barely summon any increase in pace for the finish. The last mile was 7.41 with another 10 seconds to get to the finish added on. Pretty gutted to clock 38.20. We also came 4th in the team comp. The only consolation was I’d have had to run low 34 to get the bronze and that was never happening!

Another lesson learned in needing to adapt to the conditions and maybe jumping from 38 to 35 in one go was a bit ambitious. Glad I went all or nothing in one sense but will be more conservative for the half marathon and make sure I get around solidly.

passinginterest

The couple of weeks after Lucan went ok. I felt a bit under the weather for a lot of the time so training was just about maintaining and not doing too much. The slightly ramdom goal is set early in the year was 1.42 for the half. Garmin and Runalyse reckoned I could do it maybe even sub 1.40 but Strava was more conservative at 1.44.

Conditions were perfect so no heat/humidity excuse. Well hydrated and fuelled and carried two small bottles of electrolyte and aimed for a SiS beta fuel gel every 25mins or so (nootropics ones with caffeine at start and last one).

Was happy enough to lose all the club mates and pick a staring spot on my own where I could manage the start and pace conservatively. Plan was to aim for sub 1.44 and if it was going well push on hard in the last few miles.

8.00 even for the first mile, uphill drag and exactly what I wanted. Was feeling ok if not super light on my feet and comfortable. One the main climbing was finished early enough in mile two started to pick it up a little bit and 7.52 was again pretty much where I wanted to be. Heart rate was staying nice and steady too.

Into the very favorable profile of miles 3 and 4 and it was about picking up the pace without spiking the heart rate past the point of no return. 7.43 and 7.40 on the clock and I was feeling decent, keeping things controlled but I knew the hard work was only starting.

Miles 5 and 6 are a bit more lumpy but still overall a favourable profile so I was loooking for even effort more than even pace. 7.51, 7.46 and still giving myself the chance to go 1.42 if I could hold it together. The test was coming though, as what goes down must, eventually, come up.

Mile seven was my slowest of the race, but it’s almost entirely uphill and included some narrow path. I don’t think I’ve done quite enough hill or endurance work this year and I was feeling the effort very quickly. Say in a bit of a group and just didn’t look at the watch at all along chesterfield Avenue. I knew it was probably slower than ideal but I just wanted to try conserve a bit and survive it. 8.04 on the clock in the end.

Mile 8 is pretty flat and a bit open. Try to just keep steady and follow people for a while if the pace feels right. Picked back up to 7.53.

Mile 9 has a fast downhill, but I’m thinking more about recovering now and trying to survive. This is also where the new hill is added. It’s very short, but also very steep. It’s here that the HR spikes and from there on it’s a serious fight to keep the pace up. 7.58.

Mile 10 is pretty open and flat and I’m running with the same people on one off for most of it. Manage to pick up to pace to 7.52, but after the tight turn back towards Chesterfield again I suddenly find myself really isolated. Weird because there had been so many people around the whole time.
Mile 11 is a drag the whole way and now I’m fighting hard. Breathing is getting pretty ragged. Only manage to take about half the gel because it’s making it even harder to breathe. Can’t seem to find anyone to shelter or keep pace with (turns out there was a few people using me as a pacer who thanked me at the end!). 8.03 on the clock in the end and now I just want to not fall apart to the end.

Mile 12 tops out chesterfield and finally start to go downhill again at the end of it. I’m breathing like I’m in labor at this stage, but I think I can keep it going to the end. I know that finishing mile well and it’s got a nice downhill. 8.02.

Finally into the last mile and a bit. I’m ragged, in pain, struggling to regulate my breathing and heart rate. Manage a little bop to the boombox, try relax a bit and remember I do this for fun! I really am on the limiter here and while I picked it up a bit there’s absolutely no sprint finish coming. 7.48 for mile 13 and i haven’t run the racing line all that well so there’s another almost minute and a half to the end at a blistering 7.37 pace!

Chip time came in at 1.43.53. Up there with the most exhausted I’ve ever been crossing the line of a race (my finsherpix make it very clear how hard I was working the whole way really).

Have to be happy enough. 5 minute improvement from last year. I had a setback in Lucan and a few little bugs coming in. A month ago I probably would have said I think close to 1.40 maybe even dipping under was on. So from that perspective it’s a bit of a let down. My goals for the year were kind of plucked out of the sky so I don’t know why I’m feeling bad about not breaking them.

To remind myself how far I have come. My only race last year under 8 minute mile pace last year was 5k. This year every distance from 5k to half is 7:xx.

Rathfarnham 5k on Sunday. Taking it easy this week because body is tired. I’ve run 21.55 this year and I’d like to hit 21.30 so I’ll give that a go and hopefully have one of my race paces dip into 6:xx for the first time in over a decade!

passinginterest

And so Rathfarnham. First time doing this race and I can see why it’s so popular and fast. The profile is very favourable, with a net downhill and all the climbing is in the middle mile.

Really not feeling great the last while. Don’t know if I’m rundown or what’s going on. Possibly inflammation flaring a bit, I forget sometimes that I have an autoimmune condition because it’s so well controlled overall these days.

Had a very low mileage week, just running on Tuesday and Thursday for a combined 10 miles and all pretty easy.

Felt relatively ok Sunday morning but really wasn’t sure how it would go. Got down early to collect the number and got a mile warmup with a few strides done. Decided to wear my older Saucony Pro 2, they’re a bit harder than the Pro 4 and have more miles on them, but I feel like they’re a little bit faster and have a better roll, for want of a better term, for me.

The start is on the steepest downhill on the course. With around 400 sub 20 minute runners expected there’s signs for 17-19 and the. 19+ start areas. Stayed around the 19+ sign but that proved not to be a great idea.

A lot of people ignored the signs and the start was very tricky. There was an awful lot of people, many of them in groups who were moving far too slowly for where they positioned themselves. This made for a frustrating start and it was tough to get into any kind of rhythm. I didn’t want to start too fast so from that point of view I wasn’t panicking, but there was a good bit of stop start trying to find a safe path through the first kilometre or so and the biggest danger was going to be tripping or being tripped.

I managed to stay out of trouble and eventually settled down and found a steady pace. I was passing people for the full 5k so if I’m back next year I’ll be making sure to start a bit further forward. The first mile ended up at 7.05, a bit slow considering the profile, but not too bad. With the short sharp hill up towards Ternure village and then the drag to Bushy park in mile two, my focus was on keeping the pace steady, relaxing and moderating my breathing as much as possible. Picking off people now was much more enjoyable than the hectic first mile and I kept it very controlled to clock 7.04.

Then it was time to start winding it up and seeing what was left in the tank. Heart rate was high but I knew I wasn’t going to blow up completely at that stage. No looking at the watch just running as hard as I felt I could keep going. Couldn’t remember exactly where the finish was so was holding a tiny bit back until I could see it. When it did appear it was a lot closer than expected, so I might have had a little bit more in me if I’d started the last push a few hundred meters earlier. 6.41 for mile three and 6.06 pace for the last 45 seconds or so to the line.

Stopped the watch at 21.35. So pretty much dead on in terms of best expectations. Considering the last month or so hasn’t been great and body was feeling a bit wrecked, I’m happy.

Next month I have an entry for the Dublin Novices cross country. Avoiding coming last is the main aim! I’ve got a Gingerbread 10k entry for November and a Jingle Bells 5k for December. I’ll do as many BHAA cross country events as I can over the winter season too.