Speed or distance?

DeepBlue

Mon 28/09 - **Abandoned** - Planned to a 7 miles general aerobic for this run. Straight after starting I felt some pain shooting up my right calf when it was supporting my weight. Debated briefly whether to continue on in the hope that it might ease off but decided not to risk it and try resting it instead. I suspect this niggle might have been caused by finishing off last week's run fast and downhill.

Thu 01/10 - 5.19mi 45:02 8:40/mi 95ft 154bpm - Took a few extra days off the plan to see if that would be enough for the niggle. Lashing rain all day so when I texted the lads if they were still doing the planned run I was surprised to get a positive response. This meant I couldn't wimp out. Handy run, no issues and no niggles. All good; happy days.

Sat 03/10 - 3.81mi 38:28 10.06/mi 105ft 138bpm - I can't really call this a run. It was meant to be a not parkrun but I went out way too fast and totally overcooked it. Had to stop after one and a half miles to get the HR back down and then the niggle reappeared. Bugger. Out of habit walked the rest of the not parkrun. Managed to get going again slowly on grass. Met Treviso from these parts while he was waiting for his 10K TT wave to start so the morning wasn't a total washout.

Weekly total: 9.75mi
Year to date: 988.56mi

DeepBlue

My last race was the Duhallow 10 mile less than a week before the first lockdown one month shy of two years ago. May as well use the excuse of my first race back (parkruns don't count) to lift the dust covers on this log.

Haven't been doing much running in the last while. Got an Achilles injury last July that never fully healed. Thus running totals over the last five months are Sep/Oct/Nov - approx 50km p/m and Dec/Jan - approx 100km p/m. Indoor and outdoor cycling over the same period averaged at approx 400km p/m (cycling didn't aggravate the Achilles).

Dungarvan 10 2022

The goals for this were quite modest - 1. Don't get injured. 2. Come in sub 80 if possible. 3. Try and better my 2020 result of 1.18.08

Arrived in Dungarvan after 2 and a bit hours of driving at shortly after 10am. Felt stiff as a board from the drive and the effects of the interval sessions from training on the previous Friday were suddenly noticeable. Garmin told me I still had 8 hours to recover when actually I had less than one 😂. The plan was simple - if the pace was comfortable enough then stick with the 80min pacers until the sharp left turn after halfway. Then utilise the downhill after the turn and try to press on as much as possible for home. Also find a couple of big lads to hide behind for the bit into the wind!

After a few stiff, half-hearted drills I lined up a little behind the 80min pacers. Said hello to a few lads I knew and wished @Treviso good luck as he passed by with the look of a man on a mission. This was the tightest crowd I've been in for two years. It felt a bit surreal and I was one of the few wearing a mask for the start as stipulated by the organisers (probably doesn't make much difference outdoors but anyways).

And we were off. Space was tight and the crowd were moving slowly but that suited me fine. There was no particular rush. The pacer balloons were ripped away by the wind before the first bend. First km clocked in at 5.04 but as we reached the roundabout onto the Youghal road there was a bit more space and average pace had picked up to about 4.53. Out onto the Youghal road and we got a sideways blast of wind from the right which reminded me to pick out some targets to hide behind and duly selected a couple. Took the sharp right hand turn at approx 3k and nearly slipped. Quite a bit of mud on the road - probably some construction going on. Still running very comfortably with no issues. Things got a little dicey at the water stop with people cutting across to get the tetra paks. With that bit of confusion I lost my two shelter guys. Had a quick look around and realised I was now the shelter. Tbh I didn't feel any effect from any wind. Possibly because this section of road had high hedges or just the still relatively tight crowd. Here I spotted the 80min pacer with his balloon string dangling forlornly behind him and settled in close behind. There was a couple of St Catherine's AC runners just behind me and from the constant chatter going on one was obviously pacing the other. He was all reassurance - "you're grand, we're doing fine, relax your shoulders, keep it going". Listening to her ragged breathing I didn't share his confidence but it did make me think that my breathing was silent, I was feeling very comfortable, legs felt fine and since we were approaching half way perhaps I should be suffering more so I pushed on from the 8k mark (slightly ahead of schedule) and squeezed through a few gaps to find a bit of space.

I took advantage of the downhill and got a bit of a buzz by passing quite a few runners here. However as the gradient increased slightly my purple patch died a death. It had only lasted about 2k. Not long after I could hear a familiar conversation behind and it was the St Catherine's pacer and pacee again. Again the pacer was full of reassurance to his pacee. We were approaching the left hand turn back onto the main road and he was assuring his pacee that the road after the turn was flat - "sure look at it, it's flat". I looked myself and, no, there was definitely a drag which I remembered anyway from running it before. It dawned on me that the pacer was using a pacing methodology of gaslighting. Surely that couldn't work? They sailed past me. Maybe it does!

The last two miles were a bit unpleasant. In addition to the aforementioned drag was added some rain/drizzle whipped along by the wind which had made a reappearance (again from the side). My lack of training was starting to show as I was getting overtaken quite a bit now. And I had no real interest in responding. Time was leaking, average pace was increasing and quads were tightening. The nine mile marker was very shy - taking a long time to make an appearance. Even though we'd run through the finish gantry earlier I hadn't taken much notice of it - something I regretted now as I wondered where the finish was. Surely it's just up here after this turn - nope. Ah, it must be after this turn - still nope. Finally there it was - maybe a couple of hundred metres away. A sprint finish, over the line and the alphaflys take a few more steps on their own before coming to a stop. 

Chip Time 1.18.38

So goals 1 and 2 achieved and 30 seconds off goal 3. Time was nothing to write home about (so why the log? 😜) but what made me really happy was that the Achilles showed no negative reaction and even felt quite a bit better after the run than it had before. Motion is lotion I guess. I had run a very easy 10 mile a couple of weeks prior to Dungarvan and had to stop and walk at mile 9 due to increasing Achilles pain so I was really delighted to get through a harder session with no sign of any ill effect. This gives me confidence to resume longer training runs now.

One of the downsides of continuing covid issues is not being able to eat all the calories just expended in sandwiches and cakes at the post event food stop while exchanging race post mortems with familiar faces. Leaving Dungarvan on the Youghal road there were still runners coming in to the finish over two hours after the start. While it's difficult to say anything without sounding patronising I do admire those that go out and run knowing that they're going to be really slow. I think it takes a certain amount of grit that I know I don't have.

Onto Adare next where I hope to be a bit more aggressive with pacing and another 10 mile in Mallow to follow. Goal races are for later in the year. For now it's just about getting some base miles in and experiencing a few races again and take it from there. 

diego_b

Well done on the run...that's great going with the achilles now, fingers crossed for you that it keeps in good nick.

Murph_D

Nice one, congrats on getting most of the results you wanted.

I really enjoyed this race. Glad I wasn't planning to keep an eye on the pacers all the same - must be the sh*ttest pacing baloons yet. The ones I saw sailing off before the start looked they came from the nearest party balloon shop, and not the top of the range either. That St. Catherine's pacer sounds the business though, kudos to him.

Can't believe you didn't mention the hill at 700m to go!

DeepBlue

@Murph_D

Can't believe you didn't mention the hill at 700m to go!

The report was getting into War and Peace type length so I had to cut something. 😄 Actually that hill allowed me to get back a few places as a handy number of runners stopped dead on it.

I also neglected to mention the 60 years+ Eagle AC runner that flew past me as if I was standing still at around the 7.5 mile mark and, according to the results, gained two minutes in the remaining 2.5 miles. 🙈 He was ripping along. 

DeepBlue

7 - 13th Feb

Tue 8th Feb

5.2k Club Training 4x1000 intervals (4.18, 4.28, 4.26, 4.28) I scoffed at my watch when it told me I needed 70 hours recovery after Dungarvan as I felt I hadn't really gone that hard but tbh I felt it a bit still in the legs for this effort.

4k Very easy assisting with the club C25k group. 7.22m/km avg. Time on feet really. HR: 129avg, 166max

Thu 10th Feb

10.1k Easy run 6.23m/km avg 65min. This was meant to be a 45 min run but I got lost. Strange how at the start of the run the pace seemed way too easy and at the end it felt like marathon pace. HR: 133avg, 147max

5.66k 5.58m/km avg 33min. Assisting again at the club C25k. Wet and cold. Time on feet again. HR: 131avg, 166max

Fri 11th Feb

3.5k Club Training Intervals 3x150 (29,26,27) and 3x110 (21,21,20) Enjoyed these short punchy intervals. 

Sat 12th Feb

9.3k 50 mins alternating 9min easy and one minute hard. I quite enjoyed this twist on the easy run. Took in the parkrun as part of it although I'm not sure what the person I was chatting to thought when I suddenly took off at speed when my watch beeped. 😳 Did a poor job of keeping the easy segments easy. HR: 152avg, 170max

37.9k for the week

DeepBlue

14 - 20th Feb

Tue 15th Feb

7.1k Club Training 3x1500 with 3min recovery (7.04,7.02,7.13) Another enjoyable (is that the right word?) interval session

4.8k Assisting again with the club C25K. Slow easy plod at about 6.16m/km avg with 30min moving. HR: 135avg, 157max

Thu 17th Feb

5.5k Another easy plod at 6.19m/km avg for 35min. Got soaked to the skin but it's still good fun. HR: 143avg, 161max

Fri 18th Feb

Club Training 5x200 with approx 2.5 min recovery (38,37,37,38,38). Another enjoyable interval session.

Sat 19th Feb

7km - An easy parkrun with a little extra at 6.17m/km. Paced my brother to a new parkrun PB. Sadly he's now injured as a result. 😳 HR: 133avg, 147max

I realised this week that I made a big blunder with my training. The plan was to do the Hanson Half marathon plan for Cork City Half but I somehow only counted back 12 weeks instead of the 18 for Hanson. This meant I was now starting the plan two weeks late. Bummer! Better late than never I guess.

Sun 20th Feb

The plan was to to get out for a 6m easy run but with Franklin blowing hard I figured with my luck I'd probably be taken out by a loose roof tile so played it safe and stayed indoors.

27.8k for the week

DeepBlue

21 - 27th Feb

Mon 21st Feb

6.7k 6.06m/km avg for this. Started off a little on the faster side of easy on a windy day. Pace got a little slower as elevation climbed and got slower again on the third mile straight into the wind. HR: 139avg, 150max

Tue 22nd Feb

11.2k First session for the Hanson's plan with 12x400 with 50-100% recovery (?,1.59, 1.57, 1.58, 1.58, 1.55, 1.55, 1.55, 1.56, 2.00, 1.58, 1.57) These were actually somewhere between 430 -450 metre intervals as I was using the 4th (outer) lane on the club microtrack. Goofed on my watch for the first by forgetting to press the lap button. Lost focus on lap 10 but reasonably happy that the reps were consistent. Definitely a bit flagged by the end. Probably need to practice the pacing a bit better as most of the reps were about 4 or 5 seconds slower per km than current 5k pace. Although that pace was set while wearing the alphas so maybe it's actually on target.......?? Dunno! Will have to read the chapter and check those pace charts again.

5.1k Not flagged enough to help out with the club C25k. Another 36min plod at 7min/km avg for week 7. Just another week to go on this. HR: 129avg, 141max

Thu 24th Feb

11.9k Helping out again at the club C25k but did a few miles in advance and kept plodding around with the group. A bit faster this time with 5.18min/km avg for just over an hour. Only a week in to the Hansen plan and already I'm switching sessions around. This was in lieu of the Sunday easy run as I'll be racing on Sunday which will make it my "tempo" run for this week. HR:146avg, 157max

Fri 25th Feb

6.5k easy on the track. 5.42min/km avg on the outside lane as my clubmates did their intervals on the inner lanes. Having the clubmates there makes it less monotonous and the track is that bit softer. However the Achilles was pinging more loudly than it has in a while and I was considering canning the session early. Kept going however. Sometimes that's the worst choice. HR:137avg, 145max

Sat 26th 

8.4k easy including parkrun. Was contemplating pulling out the alphas for this for maximum cushion as mindful of the Achilles. However the thought of wearing them at a slow parkrun might just look a bit too ridiculous so stayed with the ghosts instead and added an ankle support. Plodded around for 50 min at 5min/km average. All went fine and successfully achieved my slowest parkrun time for the last few years. HR: 138avg, 144max

Off to Adare tomorrow.

50k for the week so far.

Murph_D

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118700332#Comment_118700332

Have to hand it to those 60+ lads. 😉

DeepBlue

Adare 10K

I woke up briefly before 7 and felt a pain in my ankle - the good one! Aw, ffs! It was significant enough to consider whether it would be wiser to cancel. I deferred the decision to later and snoozed on. When I got up proper it felt quite a bit better - enough to throw on an ankle support and trust the cushioning in the alphas to solve the problem.

I was casually flaffing about all morning doing nothing of consequence and feeding this stray cat that was proving a bit fussy that it was only after I left the house and checked google maps that I realised I was late for the race. Very late! I definitely wasn't going to get to Adare for 12.30 which was when the race office closed. And I still had to collect my number!

Google maps was showing a significant backlog of traffic coming into Adare and we got caught in that. I jumped out of the car about a km and a half or so from the race office and jogged in. Staff had just locked up (it was now 12.50) and without word of complaint re-opened to give myself and two other late-comers their numbers. Fair play, they were very sound! Now, just a jog over to the start line. It was an unusual warmup and heart rate was duly elevated but I wouldn't recommend it as a method.

Made the start line and nudged in about 8 or 9 rows back with a few minutes to spare.

Saw an old cycling clubmate, N, at the start and caught up to him just after the start and, with a grin, casually enquired "So, sub-40 today?". He laughed; "No way, sub 45 would be just fine". I kept with him for a couple of minutes but glanced at my watch to see a pace of 3.50 which was way too hot for me so I backed off and, pretty soon, he was off up the road.

My A goal for this race was sub 45 so anything 44.xx. A 5k of 21.27 last month suggested this was quite possible. B goal was a 45.xx time and C goal was to beat my official 10K PB of 46:14 from 2019 which I considered soft. I set a target average pace of 4.29 which, if I could keep to it, would bring me home in 44.50. 

The first km, after the fast start, came in at 4.17. This was faster than my 5k pace and not sustainable. I eased back a bit and shortly after it felt like the whole race passed me by. Just swarms of runners zipping past and I was left on my own. I guess this is what happens when you start a little too close to the front. The tail end of the passing group had coalesced about 30m ahead but I didn't think it worth it to try to bridge the gap. No point burning matches this early. Second km came in a lot slower at 4.35 as were hitting a drag but average was still about 4.27. The pattern of the race was slight uphills, relatively short, following by slight downhills, also short and this continued for the full course. Uphill kms were thus a bit slower with time regained slightly on the downhills. Kms 3,4 and 5 came in 4.34, 4.42 and 4.35 and halfway was reached in 22.44 which I reckoned was too slow for a PB.

I switched my target to trying to catch N, who had remained a fairly constant 150-200m up the road still within sight. He seemed though to be edging closer after every drag. I checked the time as he turned a bend. I turned 19 seconds later. Another few drags later and, I wasn't imagining it, he was definitely getting closer. The water station loomed ahead. I figured I'd skip it and save some time. This worked and I was almost on N's heels now and we came to a right bend which, for some reason, he took very wide. I saw my chance and took the inside line and drew level. A few quick words and I was away - straight into the worst wind I recall in a race. 

The field is a bit strung out and the runners nearest to me are relatively small and don't offer much shelter. There's a Bunratty AC runner up ahead that looks fairly blocky and could be useful but I figure it's a bit of a gamble to try to bridge the gap. He's just that little bit too far ahead. Everyone seems to be struggling somewhat with the wind. I slowly overtake the runners in front of me and immediately feel them lining up behind me. The unfortunate bit of this section is that it just appears long and straight so there's no relief from the wind for quite a while. I check my watch and the average pace has crept out to about 4.34. I try to do the mental maths to figure out what time that would give but can't do it. Any spare glucose and oxygen is going to my legs and not my brain. I catch the lap alert for 8km - 4.44 and figure a PB is deffo gone now 'cos most of that km was downhill. I can see the sharp left before the end up ahead. That will take me out of the wind. The trouble is in trying to reach it. It's like trying to battle some invisible force shield. Eventually we turn the corner. The ninth km seems to go quickly enough (even though it turns out to be my slowest at 4.49) because at about 9.5k we could hear the noise from the finish. There's a group beside me pushing their friend Seanie home. "C'mon Seanie, let's make it sub 45". This gets my attention although I can't figure how it's possible and I lengthen my stride and latch on to them as they make a push for the finish. The finish gantry comes into view surprisingly quickly and although Seanie and myself are flagging we make it over the line. Stopped the watch at 46.09 but thought I might get back a few seconds in the chip time as I reckoned I'd started the watch a little early. Instead I got an added second to bring it to 46.10 and a 4 second PB.

The more distance I put between this race the better I feel about it. At the time I was a tad disappointed not to get at least the B goal but a PB is a PB all the same no matter how soft it had previously been. Conditions were good bar the wind, very mild, sunny and no rain and the organisers and marshals were great. I'll have another crack at it next year if I can snap up a ticket quickly enough.

diego_b

Nice report of the race and the organizers were very helpful in fairness to them. Well done on the run and finding a nice bit of motivation to finish strong...can't beat a pb!

DeepBlue

Hanson Half-Marathon plan - Week 3 of 16

Changing back to imperial from metric as most races from here on are the longer runs - 10 mile, half-marathon etc

Feb 28th - Mar 6th

Mon 28th

4 mile very easy. Did this on laps of a local grass sportsground to give the ankles/Achilles a bit of a break. Didn't care about pace and just wanted to keep HR low. Average pace worked out at 10.45/mi with an average HR of 130bpm, max 139bpm. Enjoyed this run watching the sun go down even if the grass was waterlogged in places.

Tue 1st Mar

21 mile cycle. Just too nice not to get out on the bike. Turbo is ok but can't beat the road especially when the sky is blue and the sun is shining.

Intervals 8x600 @5k pace. Hmmm... this didn't really work out as it should. Paces turned out to be slower than 5k pace and just slightly faster than 10k pace. Possibly still some leftovers in the legs from Sunday's race. Disappointing.

Afterwards did 3.49mi averaging 11.46/mi helping out with the C25k group. Even at that snail's pace I was feeling fairly wrecked and pretty glad when it was over.

Wed 2nd Mar

Rest day for running

26 mile cycle. After the crap weather we've been having for the last while I got out again today. Somewhat cloudier and cooler than the previous day. Still, great to get out.

Thu 3rd Mar

1.47 mi averaging 8.01/mile. Kept it short and sweet for the last C25K night.

5.31 mile at 9.15/mi - Had to borrow a watch after I'd misplaced my own. The display made no sense to me so tried to run easy by feel. Misjudged it and ran a bit too fast.

Fri 4th Mar

6.68 mi - 3m Tempo @HM pace with warm up and cooldown. HM miles came in at (7.42,7.18,7.31) over slightly undulating terrain. It felt like pretty hard going although HR didn't get up that high at (147,157,159). While the pace was tough but still manageable for 3 miles I'm not confident I could maintain it for 13.1 miles. Wore the alphaflys for this.

Sat 5th Mar

4.6 miles including parkrun. Mostly easy easy running.

Sun 6th Mar

110k cycle around Dingle. No running as fairly bushed after that.

35 miles for the week

DeepBlue

Hanson Half-Marathon plan for Cork - Week 4 of 16

Mar 7th - Mar 13th

Mon 7th

4 mile easy was on the plan. Still feeling a bit battered from the day before, also time-crunched. Very windy and cold conditions so decided to skip.

Tue 8th 

Intervals 6x800 @5K pace. 4 weeks in and I'm still making a hames of the interval sessions. Time to simplify it and just concentrate on hitting 5K pace which I'm not doing. Currently I'm not hitting the 5K pace that corresponds to my goal time even though it is my 5k pace (on a good day).

Thu 10th

3 mile Tempo. After last week's tempo felt unsustainable over the HM distance I adjusted the goal time to be a little less ambitious and maybe more realistic. In hindsight I didn't plan the route well as when I turned after the warmup I was straight into a strong wind for the 3 tempo miles. Managed these comfortably enough even with the wind so will probably adjust the goal pace back again a little to the ambitious side.

Fri 11th

4 miles easy. Did this on the track at club training. Probably looked a bit silly while the others were doing their intervals but hey ho. Got the drills, stretches and core work done with the group.

Sat 12th

6 mile easy. Did 3 miles before parkrun and the 3 miles of parkrun - all easy except for the last mile where I picked it up a bit.

Sun 13th

8 mile easy on a local hilly loop as the sun was setting to complete the week.

38 miles for the week.

So, 25% of this block done. So far, so good mostly. The interval sessions are a concern. Perhaps the issue is insufficient recovery from Sunday efforts? More focus and more concentration on hitting 5K pace might also help. I tend to ease back a couple of notches when I lose concentration. I'm happy with the Thursday sessions and the rest is all easy runs. No long runs yet in the plan. The continuous feedback from the tempo runs is very useful. It lets you know where you are. 

I still have to determine what two weeks I'm going to cut from the plan seeing as I'm doing 16 weeks of an 18 week plan. Niggles are remaining as little niggles and not developing into problems. Touch wood that will remain the same or hopefully they will fade away.

DeepBlue

Hanson Half-Marathon plan for Cork - Week 5 of 16

Mar 14th - Mar 20th

Mon 14th

4 mile easy. Did this again on the local grass sports ground where the perimeter grass track is on a hill. Average 10.45/mile with HR avg of 132. Nice sunny day and was starting to get some sweat on the forehead by the end. Could spring finally have arrived?

Tue 15th

Intervals day! Looking through the plan I decided this week was a good candidate to jump forward a week so today was 4x1200 @ 5K pace. I've been struggling to get the intervals right over the last few weeks so decided instead to just program it into the watch. That way I don't have to be counting laps and the watch would alert me if I was off pace. This worked out very well and the result was much more consistent than previous weeks. A fore-shortened warm up and generous cooldown brought this in at 11.29 miles.

Wed 16th

Rest day.

Thu 17th

4mi Tempo was on the plan. However I had a race on Sunday. Normally the advice on the plan if racing is to swap out the long run for the tempo. However the long run was 12 miles which I thought might be a bit too much prior to the race so settled instead for an easy, hilly 8 miles (if that's not an oxymoron). Averaged 9.26/mile and avg HR of 138bpm. I quite enjoy these hilly runs which is just as well as it's mainly hilly around me and I'm spoiled for choice regarding hills!

Fri 18th

6mi easy today and opted to keep it hilly (which was front loaded to the start) which was then followed by quite a bit of downhill. A bit windy out and average pace of 9.25/mile with 138bpm again the avg HR.

Sat 18th

Another 6mi easy was on the plan but I had a busy day and my right ankle was complaining a little louder than usual about the two previous hilly runs. This all helped to decide on a micro taper instead ahead of the race the following day.

Sun 20th

Race - Mallow 10 - Report to follow.

Just very slightly shy of 40 miles for the week.

DeepBlue

Mallow 10 Mile

Result: 1.13:16 - Chip Time - New PB by 2min 41sec

To be honest if you'd told me last week that I could have my entry fee back and I didn't have to run Mallow then I'd probably have taken up the offer. I'd signed up due to an acute bout of FOMO and was starting to think it was perhaps one race too many as I have another 10 miler in a couple of weeks. Mallow is not a race I'd done before and it doesn't seem to get the love (and/or speedy sell-outs) that other races get. 

I had a two hour drive to get to Mallow and when leaving home the sun was already out and warm and there wasn't even a breeze. By the time I got to Mallow the sun had disappeared and thankfully there wasn't much sign of the forecasted wind. I foolishly followed the signs for parking and race HQ and got stuck in the traffic jam in the town centre for what felt like forever. Any car park I tried was full and eventually I did what I should have done in the first place and got a spot in the Tesco car park and avoided the town centre.

I got to the start and just had time to have a brief hello with N, who happened to be injured, but still turned up to support his clubmates. Fair play! I positioned myself to the rear of the 75 pacer group and, for once, could hear the announcer as I was right beside the speaker. Usually I can't hear anything from the announcer at races and the first indication that the race has started is that everyone starts moving so to actually hear the countdown was a novelty. The start was a bit comical as we shuffled forward and stopped, shuffled forward and stopped and repeated that again and eventually we were moving.

My plan was to go with the 75min pacers and hang on for as long as I could. Dungarvan, 6 weeks ago, was done in 7.49 pace so 7.30 seemed a little ambitious. With the "stop-start" start and bit of congestion exiting the castle the 75min balloons were already a bit up the road maybe 150 or 200m or so. I decided to catch them up and felt the effort as there was a bit of elevation. First mile came in at 7.25 and I was just behind one of the 75min pacers head-butting his balloon. I got a bit of recovery here as we came through the second mile in 7.23 and we now had the worst of the route elevation behind us. The pacer was trying to call back his pacing partner who had drifted a good bit ahead. The road was now on a nice, straight, gradual, downhill and I pushed on towards the forward pacer. I let her know that the other lad was trying to get her attention but when we looked back up the road we couldn't see him. GPS seemed to be out on this section as instantaneous pace was showing at 8.00/mile which was wrong and likely throwing her out.

The third mile clocked in at 7.17 which surprised me and I was averaging 7.22 at this point. I was reluctant to pass the 75min pacer but my HR was falling and it wasn't feeling "hard enough" as we were still benefiting from the long, gradual downhill so I pushed on. Just ahead I recognised a runner who I knew-to-see from the local parkrun. He'd usually be around the 20min 5K mark so I was a little surprised to be up with him. We were joined by a female runner who looked to be running very easy with a bouncy stride and squeaky shoes. We turned left at the roundabout out towards the racecourse where the course seemed quite level. Miles 4 and 5 came in at 7.27 and 7.14 and we passed the timer for halfway. Usually I'm rubbish at running mathematics but could work out I had a decent buffer for the sub 75 if I could hold it together.

At about 5.5 miles I started to feel the effort a bit more and I started to doubt I could keep it up. Miles 6 and 7 came in at 7.18 and 7.22 with the average remaining at 7.22. Squeaky shoes and parkrun buddy were still with me sometimes slightly ahead and sometimes slightly behind. There was a few bumps in the road in mile 8, humpback bridges and the like. parkrun buddy powered up one of these and he was away. Squeaky shoes was getting an advantage on the inclines but losing it on the declines where I could use my secret weapon - gravity! Somewhere during mile 8 I was able to pull away and didn't see her again.

Mile 8 came in at 7.13 which really surprised me and mile 9 faired better at 7.09 and my overall average was going to 7.19. All of which was encouraging me to keep the effort up. Working off fumes in mile 10 but knew it would be over in a matter of minutes so ploughed on. A bit of hill just before the end which then levelled off. A shout from the sidelines that there was just 800m to go and I targeted another couple of places. Downhill to the finish, a shout out from N and a sprint finish. 1:13:15 on the watch. Chip time initially agreed but later added another second. Not that I cared. Absolutely delighted with that from a race where I wasn't really expecting anything and would have been very happy to get somewhere close to 75min.

Mr. Guappa

I missed this log restarting but I'm up to speed now - hopefully you keep the log going because those three recent race reports are a great read. Congrats on the PB in Mallow - it seems like you judged the race very well. I found your comment on Mallow being not as popular as Dungarvan interesting - the numbers confirm this but I must say I couldn't really fault it as a race and look forward to going back some day. Happy for Mallow AC as a club too - they had to cancel the 2020 race at short notice when covid landed, absorbing plenty of costs no doubt, but they had no problem issuing refunds - glad to support them this year.

Best of luck with the Half training - I'll follow with interest (now that you've reverted to imperial 😉)

py

Great PB run at the weekend. This imperial stuff is a nightmare though, pair of ye in it!

Laineyfrecks

Great report & race! Well done on the PB😊

DeepBlue

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118819299#Comment_118819299

Thanks for your very kind comments A and, of course, congrats yourself on your return to racing - a reward for your patience and persistence over the last couple of years and, no doubt, a prelude to more performances to come.

While my comments on the perceived popularity of Mallow 10 Mile were simply my subjective reading of the buzz or lack thereof regarding the race from runners of my acquaintance, social media buzz etc I certainly didn't want to give the impression that it was lesser than any other race. As you mentioned in your own report the start point is fantastic and I think it had the best course of the three races I did this year. Dungarvan has that leg-killing two mile drag at the end and Adare is very lumpy. Mallow, by contrast, has any climbing front loaded at the start and the rest is relatively downhill or flat, more or less. Also even location wise it's pretty accessible for Cork, Limerick, Tipp and Kerry runners (more so than Dungarvan) and it's on a rail line. I'll be back next year anyhow. They also seemed to have loads of enthusiastic marshals and support here and there out on the course.

DeepBlue

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118820467#Comment_118820467

It's just that it's so much easier to run 10 mile than face into running 16km 🤪

Mind you I still use kms for the bike. A 100k ride just seems more satisfying than a 62 mile one. 😆

Mr. Guappa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118821553#Comment_118821553

Oh I never meant to imply an anti-Mallow bias on your part 😀. Your comments were spot on.

Great point regarding the marshalls as well - plenty of them and they were full of encouragement and direction.

diego_b

Very well done on the pb and a well paced race, good to see the reward for pushing ahead of the pacer as well....can be hard to call that sometimes but given your finish time you were well ahead of them. Keep up the good work.

Murph_D

Excellent to PB during HM training. Congrats.

Noticed your comment about difficulty hitting 5k pace during the speed sessions. Make sure to target actual 5k pace, not the one associated with goal time. They track pretty well in my experience. You can always adjust later as your fitness improves. Overdoing the speed sessions will put you at risk. I’ve always found the speed the most difficult part of that plan actually, because the volume of speedwork is quite challenging.

Nice work all round.

DeepBlue

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118832611#Comment_118832611

Thanks @Murph_D . Good advice especially as I tend towards injury when I chase speed. For these speed sessions at the start I used my most recent hard parkrun and then adjusted using tinman's calculator with my race results to find the appropriate pace to aim for as I haven't raced any 5ks up until this week since I started the block.

I think there's been quite a few reasons for not quite hitting the paces - inexperience at intervals, inexperience on track, shoe choice, they're f**ing hard 😆 etc. Letting the watch do the thinking and tracking definitely helps and I'm not as concerned about "nailing" the speed sessions as much as getting the tempo sessions right. The book appears to suggest that the tempo and strength workouts will tell whether the goal time is achievable or not and I'm as happy going a bit slower on the speed sessions if it lessens injury risk especially if the tempo sessions are on point.

DeepBlue

Hanson Half-Marathon plan for Cork - Week 6 of 16

Mar 21st - Mar 27th

I fairly butchered the plan this week. Reasons were 1. recovering from the Mallow race and 2. fitting in two races I wanted to do. 

One of these was an IMRA race. One of my goals for the year is to do at least 5 of these and one was on very close to home on the Saturday. The plan wasn't to race this but just do it as an easy run and tick it off.

The second race was the Kerry Roads Championship 5K - a race open only to Kerry athletes registered with a Kerry Athletic Club. I think I first saw this on FB and assumed it was for elites or sub-elites. A parkrun buddy told me I should definitely do it. 

Mon 21st

5mi Easy on the plan. Did this at 9.32/mile with avg hr of 137. Bit of elevation on the route so hr peaked at 151. Felt ok after the previous day's exertions although watch said I hadn't yet recovered.

Tue 22nd

This was meant to be intervals but watch said I wasn't recovered and I didn't feel like I had either. So I brought forward one of the easy runs from later in the week and gave myself another day to recover.

6mi Easy @9.39/mi with avg hr of 138. Again a bit of elevation in the route and it turned out I was climbing into the wind towards the latter half of the run. I wasn't looking forward to that part but it turned out to be fine. 

Wed 23rd

Had to sacrifice the rest day this week to fit everything in. So today was yesterday's intervals session. 3x1600 @5k with 50 to 100% recovery. Goal time for the reps were 6.49. Reps turned in as 6.55, 5.54 and 6.58. With a 3mi warmup and cooldown the session came in at 11 miles. Happy enough with that.

Thu 24th

The plan had a 12mi long run on Sunday. Due to the races this had to go but I didn't want to completely lose it so opted for a 6mi easy today. I got out late in the evening so lights on and the relative novelty of a night run. A little over 6mi @ 9.31/mile with avg hr of 136.

Fri 25th

The tempo session was also pushed forward a day with 4mi @PHMP on the plan. I recalculated my PHMP using the race equivalency chart and pace chart for various training intensities so the new PHMP was 7.49/mile. Did a 3mi warmup and the miles came in at 7.49, 7.46, 7.43 and 7.48. The first mile felt a bit of a struggle but I eased into it and the remaining miles were no issue. Quite happy with that. 

Sat 26th

IMRA Torc Wood 8k with 300m elevation. Made a bit of a dash from volunteering at parkun to get to the start for 11am. Wasn't really sure where the start was but the directions were good so made it in reasonable time. I pretty much walked the uphills, took it easy on the downhills and jogged the level bits. Lovely day for it, got a bit lost in the woods but just waited for the next runner and followed them. Came home in just over 56min @ 11.15/mile and avg hr of 145. I'd never been up this way before and apparently these are open trails so perhaps I'll come back and do a few more runs along here if I can retrace the route.

Sun 27th

Kerry Roads 5k - Report to follow.

Just over 48 miles for the week.

DeepBlue

Kerry Roads 5K

Result: Somewhere between 21:08 - 21:11 | "Chip Time" - 21:43

When I first saw this race advertised I just thought "elite race" for a bunch of sub 16 min 5K runners. However, after asking one of those elite runners he said that I should enter. At club training earlier in the week the club secretary tells me that since our club is the only one that entered a senior men's team we are guaranteed team gold if we finish the race. First competition entered, first goal medal. My competitive career may have already peaked and I hadn't even run the race yet. 😄

It was a beautiful morning in Castleisland where the An Riocht club were holding the event. I hadn't been to their track before and wasn't actually sure where it was. I had gotten rough directions and quickly saw a bunch of multi-coloured runners down a side street so made it off. Plenty parking so parked up and got my number. Met one of my club team who said he'd no idea about the race until he got a WhatsApp message the night before and he was after doing a 17 mile run the day before.

I'm feeling nervous and do a few warmup drills and a bit of a warmup jog. The start time approaches and we all line up. I realise I'd forgot to reset my watch to kms and we're off. It's a fast downhill start. My watch says I'm going at 5.50/mile pace so I ease it back and the top end of the field drifts away while the rest settle into our respective positions. The 1k sign comes up fairly quickly and a quick glance at the watch shows 4 minutes on the nose. Just after the 1k mark I'm overtaken by one of the An Riocht senior women. I try and react for a few seconds but she drifts ahead. The course seems to have a faint downhill gradient and we press on. A time check at the 2k mark shows 8.17 so still going reasonably ok. Shortly after this I catch the An Riocht woman that passed me and regain my place. Either before or after the 3k mark I catch and pass a couple of An Riocht juveniles. 

3k comes in an 12:40 and I decide to stop looking at the watch and just race the rest. There's quite a nice downhill on this section and ahead of me are a St Brendan's man and one of my own club's junior runners. I target the St Brendan's runner but the gap to both remains the same. Just at the 4k mark I catch a Star of the Laune senior man who has a nice running style but has clearly run out of puff. We are about to get payback for all the apparent downhill on the course as there's now a hill between us and the finish. The St Brendan's runner isn't slowing and has now passed our junior female who is slowing up on the hill. Eventually the road levels out and we turn for the finish. The St Brendan's runner has kept consistent and I'm not going to catch him but I'm closing fast on our junior runner. I'm right behind her as we approach the entrance to the An Riocht track where the race is finishing. I actually don't like overtaking kids just before the finish (it feels kinda mean at parkrun) and I'm having a dilemma here. Then I think that a PB might perhaps be possible. While I'm juggling this in my head she settles the matter by putting in a spurt and I'm not catching her now. I think I saw 21:08 on the clock when I passed the line. Strava says 21:11. The official results come out the following day and show 21:43. Those obviously got messed up somehow. I'm not too bothered. It was still my 3rd fastest 5k time and there will be more opportunities to race the distance on fast courses over the summer.

Took the opportunity post-race to introduce myself to @diego_b from these parts who was wearing the sunglasses from his avatar and had a good race himself even finding time to do a bit of vi-guiding mid race. Pro level stuff!! 😀

diego_b

Well done on your race D and nice to meet you (thanks for identifying yourself as I'd never have known otherwise). You ran another good race there, it is a fast course that one but that hill in the last K is a bit of tester. I do find the run all the way down to the track a good finish as you feel like you're just picking up pace all the time.

Congrats to you and the rest of your team on your prize. It was great to see the good numbers (and growing every year) as the race as it's a favourite event of mine every year...the location moves around but it's very accessible especially across the masters age categories.

DeepBlue

Hanson Half-Marathon plan for Cork - Week 7 of 16

Mar 28th - Apr 3rd

Mon 28th

6mi easy around the local sports fields. 9.46/mile with 136 avg HR. Back on this grassy track this week. While I find it boring and it's set against a small hill so every lap needs to negotiate that climb it does seem softer on the legs/ankles so I think I'll stick with it for the Monday runs. Lovely day all the same.

Tue 29th 

Intervals with 5x1k @5k pace with 50-100% recovery. These came in at 4.09, 4.10, 4.22, 4.17 and 4.22. Pushed off too fast on the first rep and paid for it on the latter reps. Just another couple of weeks of these speed sessions thank God. 3 miles warmup and cool down brought it to just over 11 miles for the session.

Wed 30th

Rest day. Since I hadn't taken the rest day last week this was eagerly awaited. As anyone familiar with the Hanson's plans knows, the idea is to introduce cumulative fatigue and, for me, that is showing itself between this week and last.

Thu 31st

12mi long run. Swapped out the tempo for the long run due to the race on Sunday. 9.21/mile, avg HR of 141 with about 850 feet of elevation. I'm wondering if that's a little too fast. Hanson's gives a bit of latitude on easy pacing saying to keep it between 1m 30s and 2m 30s slower than goal pace. It doesn't say anything about elevation though. 

Fri 1st

6mi easy. Time got away from me a bit and it was very late before I got out for this so running by street lights. 9.13/mile with avg HR of 138. Probably a little too fast on the flat really.

Sat 2nd

6mi easy. A leisurely 6.5 miles around Muckross Lake @ 10.14/mile with avg HR of 132. Met a friend on her bike on the way around and spent half the run chatting to her which kept the pace honest. I was debating whether to drop this for a bit of a micro taper ahead of the race on Sunday but I've probably butchered the plan enough already to drop more days from the plan.

Sun 3rd

Cobh 10 Mile. Report up next.

Just over 52 miles for the week.

DeepBlue

Cobh 10

Result: 1.14:34 - Chip Time

This would be my third trip to Cobh for the Cobh 10. The first time was as a marshal, the second time I ran and obviously ran again this time. Each trip has been in gloriously sunny conditions so they've been blessed with the weather every time.

I arrived in Cobh an hour ahead of the race and even then the place seemed full of runners doing warm ups and whatnot. I bagged one of the last parking spots in the school opposite Race HQ. There was still a chill in the air when I nipped up to the start area to use the facilities. I returned to the car, removed the outer layers and put on the race shoes. It was warm enough by the time I got back to the start line that I no longer worried if a vest would be too cold. Some quick hellos to a few people and I settled myself near where the 75min balloons had been placed on the railings lining the start area. I met J there and we were too busy chatting to notice that the race was about to start until we saw those ahead moving off. It also took us a few hundred metres to figure out that the pacers weren't using balloons but instead had pacer T-shirts with their pacer time on the back. I settled in behind them and we were off on a fast start. 

There is quite a bit of downhill in the first two miles. I half hear the pacers saying they were banking time on the start in advance of the hills. (At least that's what I think they said and it made sense). I moved out ahead of the pacers into cleaner air and I was moving a little faster here naturally anyway and feeling comfortable. At about 1.5 miles we came to the first sharp downhill and I resisted any urge to rush down it. J overtook me saying "there must be some hills here somewhere?" and I assured him that he wouldn't have long to wait. And we didn't as the first one came at about the 2.5 mile mark. I started up it taking it a bit handy as J shot ahead. About half way up the pacers caught up to me and were going faster. I upped the effort a bit but left the elastic stretch out. They reached the crest first and I caught them as we flattened out and the effort eased. 

The road undulates a bit until shortly before mile 4 when we reach our second hill. "Ok, just two minutes of running and that's the hills over" say the pacers. Again I let the elastic stretch and they pull away. Over the top and the pacer exhorts us to band together again using a scooping motion with his arms. These pacers are in a "no runner gets left behind" mood. There are a couple of unexpected hillocks but we're definitely on a downward section now and we hit a long, fast, downhill at approx 5 and a quarter miles and the pacers urge us to let go and reap the free speed. I fly down trying to keep myself as light on my feet as possible. I must have looked particularly ungainly as the camera man at the bottom of the hill turns his lens away as I approach.

At the bottom of this hill, at approximately the 5.5 mile point, the road flattens out briefly before settling into a shallow uphill gradient. Except it still looks flat. Here I started to struggle, badly! The effort seemed that much harder for what seemed like flat road and slowly the runners around me started to stretch away. I'd love to say I dug deep and dragged up some reserves or even remembered something inspirational like the story J told me before the race about the young girl with cerebral palsy running at that morning's junior parkrun. Instead I was beginning to feel quite sorry for myself, resigning myself to not going sub-75 and wondering what the damage would be and how I could at least limit it to some extent. I had made some buffer on the pacers but knew it was inevitable they would catch back up as I was bleeding time. Worse, I didn't think I could latch on when they did.

Fortunately it took longer than expected for them to reach me and they urged me back into the group which I did. Alas this was also when they injected a slight surge in pace and I started drifting out the back again in short order. However I had a stroke of luck as we came to the third sharp downhill of the day that I'd completely forgotten about. Here I could catch the pacers, complete a dodgy overtake on the wrong side of the road with a car coming against me, and sail on down the hill. At the bottom of the hill was a 90 degree left turn back to Cobh followed very shortly by the 8 mile marker. Just two miles from home and slightly ahead of the pacers.

The road here is again slightly uphill but thoughts of the finish line have a magnetic effect. The road curves a bit and I remember reading somewhere on here about running the tangents so I take the shortest possible line and this works as I make ground on those ahead. As we get closer to the town proper there are more marshals and support from the crowd. The pacers are still behind and giving me the odd shout out now in support - "great running, keep it going". I give a thumbs up in acknowledgment. The pacers had promised a fast finish and it turns out the new route had a longish fast downhill. This is certainly preferable to the older parallel route which had a sharp uphill just before the finish line. I let fly on this and swept up a further few runners ahead of me.

Happy to get in on target of sub 75 and to improve on my 2019 time by 1.23. I can honestly say that wouldn't have happened without the pacers (who were phenomenal - advising, encouraging, supporting, cajoling and almost bullying us to keep up the pace around the course) and also a bit of luck. 

This race was much tougher on the day than I was expecting and it could easily have gone much worse. There was a large amount of support on the course with bands playing at multiple points and the finish wouldn't look out of place at a much larger event. There was a great vibe about the town and I'll be back again next year for another mug with perhaps a bit more hill training under my belt!

diego_b

Well done on your race and pulling out another good time, that course sounds like fun!