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Better late than never

denis b

Started life here as a DCM 2015 novice and I have just graduated!!!! A slow starter but I have run on and off over the years, always trying to maintain some degree of fitness. Fell off the wagon a couple of times along the way but had a "moment of inspiration" in September 2013 whilst sitting in the car one evening.

One of the kids had decided to take up competitive rowing, so here I was sitting there looking out through the windscreen, on his first week, thinking that this will be a long winter. Decided there and then that with the Phoenix Park beside the boat club that I would try and get fit again. It felt like "one more throw of the dice". I was almost 51 and wondered what was I capable of doing if I worked at running for a couple of years. I had always cherished a dream of running a sub 4 hour marathon, and this year it has happened. DCM 2015 3:54.

Will explain, but the chapter became a book over the last 2 years and now I move on to the next phase - to try and better my pb's over 5km (21:00) and 10 km (47:02) over the next 4 months.

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chickey2

Well done on that session, it looked nasty! Looks like you're in good shape for dunshaughlin, best of luck!

jake1970

denis b wrote: »

Thursday

VO2max day. Important session and last push before Dunshaughlin.

13km with 4 x 800m and 2 x 600m at 3-5km pace. Recovery time at 75% of interval time. Found the correct pace in the mid range after the first interval. Have a habit of going off too fast but curtailed this by the third interval. Hard enough session and the HR hit the 98% mark but recovered nicely. Had to push pretty hard for the last one but had messed up the garmin session set up so had to guess the distance.

2 km cool down on the way home gave me some time to reflect. Last race in this part of the cycle and looking forward to it. Am going to push hard but will measure the first 6km at just about new pb territory and then pick it up km by km to finish.

Kudos for getting through that session, I done the same session on Wednesday and lets just say it didn't go as well as yours did. With a little over a week to go now till Dunshauglin, how are the legs holding up after all the racing in the last month?

denis b

Think they are ok. First time through a cycle like this so I dont really know any better. Loosing 3 weeks in April and a week in mid May was not good for the confidence but on the other hand the times are going in the right direction. The legs feel good but they did feel weakish on the second last km at Dunboyne. Think that might have been more a combination of the heat and my head as I managed to finish the race well over the last 500m.

Was looking forward to the VO2 max as I know it will provide a boost and have to keep reminding myself that the races count for something as well. Trying to strike a balance on training/racing/recovery and am continuing to work on hydration and sleep.

If my head could match my legs I would be fine

.

Just watching your times makes me feel that you will be giving this race socks?

jake1970

denis b wrote: »

Just watching your times makes me feel that you will be giving this race socks?

Socks and everything else that I can give on the day:). Confidence of a positive result is not high but it never is at this stage of training. I cant wait to get back to marathon training, I am missing my long runs.

denis b

jake1970 wrote: »

Socks and everything else that I can give on the day:). Confidence of a positive result is not high but it never is at this stage of training. I cant wait to get back to marathon training, I am missing my long runs.

+1 to that.

This Fat Girl Runs

denis b wrote: »

+1 to that.

Me too!

denis b

Friday/Saturday

Rest days after the VO2 max session.

Sunday

13 km Aerobic Run at 5:51/km. Kept this at the prescribed HR. Lashing rain at start but eased off after 3 km. Have always run with shorts and compression shorts so that the inner thighs are not shredded. Thinking of ways to lighten the load and reduce heat so its shorts for the next 3 runs to see what happens. Singlet is on the way as well.

Monday

10 km Aerobic run (5:40/km pace) incl. 1.2km at race pace and 4x100 strides. Did this on the Clontarf sea front after the match which co-incides with race start on Saturday. Plenty humid and run went very well. Had watched Wes Hoolahan in his early 20's at Shelbourne and he was a talent. Delighted to see him prosper on a world stage at this point in his career. What a creative player. A joy to watch.

Tuesday

5 km recovery run. Nice and easy at this stage. HR is behaving itself so I must be finding the right pace for this sort of run. Ran without the compression shorts and no visible injuries

Chartsengrafs

denis b wrote: »

Have always run with shorts and compression shorts so that the inner thighs are not shredded. Thinking of ways to lighten the load and reduce heat so its shorts for the next 3 runs

Presume you'll lash on the body glide or perhaps vaseline in that case if chafing is an issue?

denis b

Chartsengrafs wrote: »

Presume you'll lash on the body glide or perhaps vaseline in that case if chafing is an issue?

Absolutely. Will do a Marathon prep special just to be on the safe side although no chaffing since I ditched the compression shorts.

jake1970

Best of luck tomorrow denis, I hope it all goes well for you. Enjoy!!

diego_b

Good luck tomorrow Denis, race well!

Kennyg71

All best tomorrow have a good one.

Bungy Girl

Best of luck tomorrow, Denis! Give it socks. Or football boots, whatever you've got

tang1

Best of luck tomorrow evening Denis.

annapr

Best of luck in Dunshaughlin, Denis, have a good one!

denis b

Wednesday

7km Recovery run but it felt like a bit of an effort. Enjoyed it all the same and did a lap of Albert College Park which added a km to a planned 6 km run.

Thursday

Rest Day - dreadful nights sleep.

Friday

5 km with 4x100m strides along the seafront which pretty much co-incided with the planned race start time tomorrow night.

Saturday

Target Race Day - Michael Manning 10km Road Race Dunshaughlin

This is the race that I had targeted from earlier in the year. Lead up races to this were interrupted with a few smaller health issues and I always felt that I had left the best of my training behind me a little earlier this year. This seemed to weigh on me a lot - probably an underlying lack of confidence. Still I re-jigged a few supporting races (Cooley 10km and Dunboyne 8km) which had brought pbs and helped to provide some confidence, lessons and feedback. First off hydration and dealing with heat, so bought a singlet and ditched the compression shorts. Likewise , had a water bottle in my hands for 2 days before the race.

Arrived in Dunshaughlin and spotted a roadside memorial to Michael Manning on the way to Race HQ. Arrived BG early and had calculated that I needed 30 minutes for my new race warm up routine. Got my number (26 - I was keen and booked early) and headed back to the car for a few rounds of Sudoku which helped to distract me.

Kitted out and headed out up the road to the start and did a 10 minute progressive warm up to race speed, followed by 10 mins stretching and 5 mins (4x100m strides) running to complete the warm up routine.Got myself to a marked 40-50 min starting point and chatted to a few runners around me for 2-3 mins and we were off.

Current pb 46.02 (May 2016) Race plan - 45 mins, by running the first 5 km at 4:30 but gaining several seconds to deal with the hill on the 7-8km mark. Would take it km by km after 5 (mental approach) and then push through km 9 and 10. Always need a plan to push me through.

KM 1-3 4:26, 4:29, 4:31.

Mad fast start and pulled back to settle into a planned 4:30 pace. The race needed the full 3km to settle down after passing through the village, cheered on by the pints in hands footballers. Was pleased to have 4 secs to spare!!! but the pace was strong. This felt sustainable for a few kms at least.

KM 4-6 4:30, 4:29, 4:28

For the first time ever I seemed to be running my own race, helped by the pacing approach. Was starting to constantly overtake people like a conveyor belt and without having to do anything in particular. At times I would spot particular people and feel they were a long way away and after a minute or two I was alongside them and pushing on again. I felt slightly detached from the race at times and was completely in my own space just concentrating and pushing along ever mindful of the pace with the country road undulations. I was now enjoying this.

Hit the 5 km split mat in 22:46. Not completely sure how this happened but I was several seconds down on the start line. Didnt worry and was feeling good.

KM 7-8 4:29 and 4:36

Working quite hard now and knew the hill was approaching. Everything was in working order and no issues with the heat this time. Threw one cup of water over me at start of Km 7 and managed to get a few sips out of another. Didnt want to waste time with water on the last 3 km and got myself settled for some work.

The drag: a straight drag which ramped up rather than climbed. There was a long line of runners and the road narrowed on this km. I shortened my step and made a conscious effort to keep the work rate up overtaking all the time and now followed by two other runners (Dunboyne runner of my own age and a triathlete) who also took the lead from time to time. This was hard, very hard - had to keep the head up and focus. Not giving in now and the last 2 km are just ahead. Come on push push. Ok I gave the course back only 6 secs on the hill but the next 2 km would offer some payback.

Km 9-10 4:23 4:17

Gained composure and pace coming off the top of the drag and kept up the increased effort using it to get back some time on this km. Don't remember too much about this but was pushing strong at a sustainable pace.

Hit the 9km marker and checked the split. Delighted that the effort was paying off and then could see that there was a 200m marker ahead. Pushed on and the Dunboyne runner began to fall behind. Spotted my targets for each 200m now and increased the effort significantly. With 400 m to go I was close to flat out. Spotted a group of club runners ahead and caught them over 200m. We hit a small hill and I hit the floor overtaking them giving it everything. 2 of them followed and I just belted it giving it everything and looking over my shoulder realising I had pulled ahead. I was wrecked but pushed it through the line.

Official time 44:49 with a second half negative split of 22:03. My splits are probably slightly at variance with the official times but will look at that later. 1 min and 13 secs off recent pb.

Delighted with the race. The conditions were perfect for me and patience paid off in the end. Some rest now and a plan currently being hatched for the second half of the season.

aquinn

Yahoo Denis, super racing and a result. Well done.

tang1

Great stuff Denis, very well done.

nop98

"Yahoo" is right. Well done Denis, splendid time! Love the Dunshaughlin race - you did all your training justice.

diego_b

Great stuff Denis, was looking forward to hearing how you got on and the report too. Really well executed race and loving the strong finish.

Singer

Delighted for you, nice work! Splits look super solid.

Chartsengrafs

Well done Denis, great progress

Bungy Girl

Great work Denis ! Never in doubt that this was going to be a good result for you. Well done.

This Fat Girl Runs

Wow! What a result! Chuffed for ya!

chickey2

Fantastic! Fair play on those last two km.

annapr

Great performance, Denis, a negative split on that course is really something, sounds like you were really strong throughout.... Congrats on the PB too!

The Muppet

Brilliant running, congratulations on the PB.

Kennyg71

Really well exacted race, congrats on PB no more than you deserve, delighted
for you:)

Murph_D

Super race, D - great preparation, great execution, great result! Congrats.

jake1970

Well done denis. Excellent result.