Off the Fence....and looking to go sub 3 hrs

Wubble Wubble wrote: »

Saw that earlier, brilliant result, very well deserved!

Thanks J. Good to see you yesterday even if only briefly. You looked happy enough yourself both before and after.

Annie get your Run wrote: »

Very well deserved indeed !! The singlet suits you, congrats on the pb

Cheers A. Thanks for the shout out on the run in. You guys were in the right place at the right time to give me a the prod I needed to finish it out.

AuldManKing wrote: »

Thats a super time. You beat my PB by 2 seconds.









Pity it was a short course. :pac:

Thanks, A but 2 secs, is that all

Nice to be able to get one up while you are on the way back up! Won't be long before you leap frog me again. Yesterday gives you a nice platform to go from.

MisterDrak wrote: »

Thanks for the casual "hi Dave" as you glided past !

Nice time there, and I see you got on as a scored on the team !

Thanks D. I think I would have been scorer if they had an O45 team but when they lumped us all in under O40 I was unfortunately a little off the mark.

tang1 wrote: »

Not a word did you heed.......... Super running M, great to see for you.

Cheers B. I was just looking for a little confidence booster ahead of the big one next weekend!!

Monday (23/01)
Planned - 6m Easy
Actual - Rest

Tuesday (24/01)
Planned 10m w10x60sec Hills
Actually 9.9m w10x60sec Hills

Condition pretty good again this eve. Dry, calm and mild. Again focused on form and driving straight down and off the hard surface. Felt like the legs were stronger and working better than last week. All but the last rep were controlled. Needed assistance from the arm in reps 8, 9 and 10 but only in rep 10 was I flapping at the end. Right side showed signs of nerve pinching again with pins and needles in right toes after 3 reps and some spasm of lower back in the cool down. Settled after the run but was a little stiff when walking the dog later. S&C session tomorrow will hopefully address this

Wednesday (25/01)
Planned - 4m/6m Double Recovery
Actual - 8.2m Easy (Avg Pace 08:12/Avg HR 126)

Thursday (26/01)
Planned - 8-10m Easy
Actual - Rest

Having decided to can Tempo Thursday with Raheny coming up on Sunday I ended up farting around with loads of excuses and no running. Did a half arse S&C session in the late evening. Better than nothing I suppose.

Friday (27/01)
Planned - 6m Easy
Actual - 6.9m Easy w/1m of Strides (avg pace 08:08/avg HR 129)

Straight forward easy lunchtime run mainly on grass along the seafront and in Fairview Park.

Saturday (27/01)
Planned - 8m Easy finishing with 22min pacing parkrun
Actual - 3.3m Easy (avg pace 08:20/avg HR 126) plus parkrun 22min pacing (avg pace 07:08/avg HR 143)

Struggled to get out of the bed so pre-parkrun run was shortened accordingly. Hip was giving me load of gip and as I ran over in my head I was giving up running and never running again. I didn't need this sh*t. Arrived at parkrun sucked in the atmosphere, donned my fancy new pacing bib courtesy of Olive's Room Cafe and thoroughly enjoyed my pacing gig. Not a peep out of the hip/glute when I got going or maybe I was just distracted so didn't notice it. Finished in 22min flat Usual coffee and chats afterwards and my early retirement was on the back burner again

Sunday (29/01)

Raheny 5

Official Time: 29:11
Overall Position: 127
Category Position (O45): 10

Love this race every year and look forward to it every year. This year was no different. Training has been going OK. Good weeks and bad. Plenty of niggles that I am trying to manage. The aim for this race was to give me a marker as to where I am and to lay the platform for my first target race of the year which is Ballycotton 10 in March. The plan was to go hard and try to break 30mins. Given that my PB is 29:59 breaking 30mins would give me a PB to boot.

Took the benefit of the late start to have a lie in after a late night at the annual GAA dinner. Met up with Ferris for the run over and got in a couple of miles of warm-up done taking in the last mile of the course on route. Plenty of boardies and parkrunners around the place and a great atmosphere at race HQ despite the rain.

Quick change into the racing gear including my shiny new Raheny Singlet and a pair of DS trainer before heading back out for a few strides. I have never raced in anything other than my GT-3000’s so this was a bit of an experiment.
Headed into the pen early to ensure I could avoid the normal squeeze at the start. I was right up at the tape but by the time the backfill was finished I was about 8/10 rows from the front just behind Caitriona McKieran. This is where I stayed until after the first corner. Then she headed off into the distance and that was the last I saw of her.

Mile 1 was all about laying the ground work. A number of races in 2016 including Ballycotton 10, Frank Duffy 10, Charleville HM and most recently Waterford HM have taught me some valuable lessons. The key one being that no matter what kind of shape you are in if you can’t get your head in the game you are going to struggle but if you can get your head in the game sometimes you find that you are in better shape than you thought. So I needed to find a way to get my head in the game. And another lesson learnt over the last while is that for me this means finding someone to chase/race. I noticed in mile 1 that I was looking around a bit and daydreaming slightly. I then thought back to the recent XC and remember that throughout that I never looked at or acknowledged any support I just focus on the job and got on with it. I decided that was where I needed to be today so I start trying focus on the runner in front with a view to tracking or passing depending on how they were moving. Also decided not to look at the watch and just run.

Mile 1 – 05:43

Not long after the start of Mile 2 I was passed by a Crusader (P) that I know through parkrun. He is a decent runner and a regular top 5 finisher in St Anne’s. This was my chance to turn this into a race. I jumped in behind him and tracked him down Sybil Hill passed the Mile 2 marker. As we approached the mile 2 marker I thought about looking at the watch but questioned myself as to what seeing the time would do for me. I was making a decent effort so if I saw 12:30 or something like that then the head could drop on the basis that I was working too hard to be moving so slow. The alternate was I might see 11:30 and decide I need to back off and convince myself I was going too fast. In the end I saw P look at his watch and decided that he now knew what he was doing so if he is happy then I am happy to tag along as long as the effort felt right. I didn’t look at the watch then or at any other time during the race.

Mile 2 – 05:44

As we turned onto Mt Prospect I felt stronger than I had done during the first two miles and decided it was time to return the favour to P so I passed him and pushed on knowing full well he was going to come after me. I lead the charge until we approached the 3 mile marker. At this stage in my head there was only him and me running. I honestly can’t recall any other runner from this section of the race and don’t know if I was passing or being passed but I think it was the former as I probably would have taken note if it was the latter.

Mile 3 – 05:48

Just after the mile 3 marker P passed me and pushed about 5m ahead but I didn’t lose him and dug in a forced myself to hold the gap and stay in the game. Mile 4 was where I had lost it last year and slacked off I had no intention of doing the same this year and I had P there as a target to make sure I didn’t. As I entered the park I felt like I was going to throw up but I agreed with myself that feeling like I was going to throw up wasn’t the same as throwing up so until I actually threw up there would be no backing off. I didn’t throw up and in the mind over matter stakes I think my mind just told the matter it was staying in for another while so to sit back and enjoy the ride. Headed up the Avenue and I wasn’t getting any closer to P but wasn’t losing ground either. A couple of people passed me here so I took note and made a conscious effort to push back. I could see the leaders coming the other way but just staying focused on the job at hand. When we turned on the Avenue I now had about 3/4 runners between me and P. As I ran back down the Avenue I got a couple of shout outs from people coming the other way but just keep looking straight ahead and the only person I actually saw going up the other way was AMK. His bright singlet and St Topaz coated shoulders were hard to miss

Mile 4 – 05:57

Into the last mile and as we approached the end of the Avenue section I was passed by two more. That was the signal to start pulling things back. I slingshot through the middle of these two guys as we rounded the corner and headed towards the dog park. P was still there but looking strong and not coming back to me at all. I tick tacked with a couple of guys on the incline pass the dog park and out onto the road again. As this was a local race I got loads of shout outs all the way around the route. However, none were more welcome than along here and the Raheny singlet now was paying dividends with shouts of “Go Raheny” coming from all sides. My focus moved from P to those between me and him and in particular to an East Antrim guy and a Mullingar guy who were just ahead of me. The Mullingar guy had started right beside me and looked about 18 with the smooth flowing running action that goes with youth. After we rounded the first of three corners in the final run in I was really feeling under pressure and for a split second wondered if I was going to be able to stick with these guys. Then I was hit by the cattle prod in the form of shout outs from aquinn and AGYR who were perfectly placed with about 200m to go. I focused on sticking with the two guys around the next bend and then teed myself up for the final push. I hugged the inside line on the last corner tight and kicked off it, taking both lads before they had even got back into their running after the bend. As I looked up I could see the clock reading 28:xx. Sub 30 and a PB was in the bag now it was about by how much. Pushed on as hard as I could with an eye to my left shoulder to ensure the guys didn’t come back at me. They didn’t. Job done or so I thought until about 10m from the line a completely different guy came from nowhere and passed me on the inside. I hadn’t seen him coming, had no time to react and he got me good First time in 7 running I have been successfully passed by anyone in the final straight in Raheny (Ferris would say that this is because I wasn’t running hard enough for the previous 4.9m on any of the previous outings ). I’d like to think I’d have found something if I had seen him but will never get to find out……lesson for the future is to hold a tighter line so all comers have to come at me from the side I am monitoring.

Mile 5 – 05:54

P finished 4 places and 3sec in front of me. Congratulated and thanked him afterwards as well as acknowledging the good runs by the lads before and after me. Was quickly joined by a not unhappy Yaboya and a few others for the walk back to the GAA clubhouse. Met up with a happy Ferris before heading for a cuppa where we were joined by loads of happy boardies and parkrunners with plenty of PBs and strong runs being recounted. Finished off in a local hostelry with the usual suspects for some PB beverages.

Another great day in Raheny………thanks to all involved organising, volunteering and supporting as without you guys it just doesn’t happen. Last but by no means least thanks to Denisb for the flapjacks, top notch as usual. Hopefully see you all SAME TIME SAME PLACE next year.

No problem with the hips, glutes, etc during or after the race. In fact legs felt better on Monday morning than they have in a while.

Now it’s back to the grindstone. Moving from this to a sub 60 in Ballycotton is a big jump but all I can do is keep training and trying!!!

Oh yeah least I not forget before Ballycotton there is the matter of a little pacing gig in Trim which I have now actually entered
.

Ferris B wrote: »

Was he using petrol or diesel?:D

Probably leaded to get the darker tone :P

Annie get your Run wrote: »

Super report! Sound like the perfectly executed race which gives a good confidence boost for Ballycotton. Of course, you couldn't have done it without us

Thanks AM. Credit where credit is due......well timed shout out was defo worth a few seconds and absolutely cost the East Antrim and Mullingar lads a place

tang1 wrote: »

Will you have the Raheny belly top on Sunday M?

No club colours on Sunday, B.