Mum on the Run

Thursday – REST

This was supposed to be a running day but I switched with Friday as couldn’t be bothered going out in the cold. The Raynauds is at its worst when it’s a damp cold and it has been quite painful the last few days. Bring on the warm weather training !!

Friday – Easy

A FREEZING, mucky, slow plod around the trails in St.Anne’s. Only really started to warm up towards the end. Spent the whole time dreaming of the breakfast and coffee I was going to treat myself to afterwards.

• 6.0 miles @ 9:46 (trail)

Saturday – Easy

A local loop with strides as prep for tomorrow. All grand until the last mile along Clonliffe Road when I ran unexpectedly into hoards of GAA fans heading to Croker. On a Saturday night Although I can't really talk :rolleyes:

• 3.0 miles @ 8:59 (path)

Sunday – National Masters XC (Waterford) 4K

Well, this was just fab. Loved every mucky minute. After a season of flat, dry, warm XC races this was the coldest, wettest, toughest, hilliest XC race I’ve ever done. As we approached Waterford in the team Toyota, the Sat Nav woman was insisting we had another 5 minutes to our destination but we could see the course across the road, literally on a hillside, and could make out swarms of juveniles in club vests hurtling down. :eek: no turning back now. I made some wardrobe adjustments to include a buff, extra sleeves and a t-shirt under my singlet. Just as we were doing our strides there was a sleet shower. It was Baltic. Lined up with team mates, bang and off we went. One short (1K) and 2 long (1500m) loops to make up the 4K. Each lap involved a long zig-zag climb up to the top of the course and then a steep downhill at the end. There were no flat bits! While the climb was never steep it just went on for ever and got longer with each lap. The downhill was fun, and would make for a very fast finish. 1st lap was grand, bit congested and a few loose elbows flying. Tried to make a bit of a break on the 2nd lap but figured I would probably die on the 3rd lap if I did. I was working hard, holding my place, so no point being a damn fool about it as someone wise once said. Started to feel it on the 3rd lap. Some minor ‘FlAbs’ which thankfully didn’t get any worse and eased off once the pace slowed for the final drag uphill. Lost a few places here but not loads. Was able to give the final downhill a bit of welly and made up a couple of places here to finish in a heap. Very tired but very happy. I knew I had given it my best shot and looking at the results later (when the feeling had finally returned to my fingers) I had beaten a rake of people who had been ahead of me in the Dublin Masters in January. The turnout was massive (200 or thereabouts) and the standard was very high (the winner is an Olympian – Sydney 2000). Dubgal had a super race, finishing well up the ranks and her team were rewarded with some national bling-ba-bling.

• 4.7 miles total (grass, muck)

And the metrics are complete! I’ll dig this out again in October and aim to improve those stats.

Race Distance (Garmin) Time Place (F) Place (AG) % F Winner % of Field Standard
Dublin Novice 4K 2.45 m 17:48 53 n/a 120% 71% County / Novice
Teachers 2m 2.18 m 15:43 21 2 124% 47% BHAA
Leinster Novice 4K 2.20 m 16:25 83 n/a 127% 84% Province / Novice
Irish Life 6K 3.69 m 27:33 17 5 127% 44% BHAA
Race 1 Dunboyne 2m 2.00 m 14:25 18 n/a 111% 16% Meet & Train
Race 2 Tymon Park 2m 1.90 m 13:46 34 n/a 112% 25% Meet & Train
Dublin Masters 3K 1.91 m 14:53 79 17 128% 53% County / Masters
Race 3 Lucan 2m 2.00 m 14:24 38 n/a 113% 26% Meet & Train
Race 4 Swords 2m 2.00 m 13:46 22 n/a 111% 22% Meet & Train
National Masters 4k 2.45 m 18:31 105 21 125% 55% National / Masters


TOTAL WEEKLY MILES (Taper): 23.5

So what’s next ? National Masters Indoors on 5/3, Road Relays on 23/4 (I hope! Lots of new, speedy masters in the club, fingers crossed I make it on to the team), Leinster Masters Track on 4/6 and ‘the Nats’ on 2/7. Will include some of the Graded Meets, the Meet & Train summer (road) league and no doubt some other races along the way before going cold turkey on races and putting in some much needed base building. Bring on the next phase!

Wubble Wubble wrote: »

Well done G ! Bits in bold are always sweet when you get it right Nice to see plenty more races in store.

Thanks, J. Yup, plenty more races but they will mostly be short so I can fit in some training around them!

Mulberry wrote: »

To quote my clubmate #1 after the race: "I DETEST XC and I don't intend on doing another one anytime"

Clubmate #2: "After today I felt like giving up running. Was absolutely fecked after the race."

To quote Bungygirl: "This was just fab. Loved every mucky minute."

Hilarious! You are unique!

Well done BG, delighted it all came together for you in the end and brilliantly well done on passing those girls who'd beaten you in Dublin. Fantastic.

Ha ha that's so funny. What can I say ? I don't really see the point of XC unless it promotes serious suffering

Neady83 wrote: »

That says it all Unreal BG, well done and a fantastic way to close out the XC season. Well done on putting in the hard work, it's more than paid off.

Thanks, Neady. Took me long enough to get it right :rolleyes:. I'll definitely approach XC differently next season as a result. And have a word with the weather gods while I'm at it :pac::pac::pac:

Ososlo wrote: »

Well done at the weekend! That's a super result and great to be making gains like that in such a field of runners. Delighted to hear Dubgal did so well also!!!

Cheers, A. Dubgal was at the pointy end of things and I was fortunate not to get lapped . That's the beauty of the masters events though - loads of individual battles going on throughout the field.

Murph_D wrote: »

Excellent stuff, G, you timed your season well to peak at the end.

Quite accidentally I have to say, but nice to end on a high.

laura_ac3 wrote: »

Nice to finish off with a good performance and claiming back some spots from previous competitors.

Yeah, possibly more to do with having an appalling race in January rather than an amazing one on Sunday, but hey I'll take it

denis b wrote: »

Well done G. The race and season came right for you in the end. Very nice work.

Thanks, D. Just what I needed to get my mojo back anyway.

Dubgal72 wrote: »

You totally rock! It was a hardcore day alright. Well done on the end of season high and see you fri

Straight back at ya! Huge congrats on the well-deserved bling ; that medal holder must be creaking from the weight at this stage ?

FBOT01 wrote: »

Just catching up now. Well done at the weekend. Glad you enjoyed it !

I did ENJOY!!!!!! (Thanks)

Murph_D wrote: »

Is that the same as 3x1600 or am I missing something? Either way your mile PB is looking soft already! Great session.

What they said /\/\/\/\/\

Although it may as well be 3 x 1600 as the recoveries are so short :eek:.Which can be good because you don't have time to think about it. Was happy with the session all right compared to earlier attempts. Progress .

How's the recovery going ?

Monday – REST

Scheduled. Too much to do.

Tuesday – REST

Unscheduled. Coming down with a cold .

Wednesday – S&C, Easy

Felt much better after a good sleep. Pilates class followed by a loop around the neighbourhood.

• 6.0 miles @ 9:01 min/mile (path)

Thursday – REST

Flight delays and a longer than expected day of travelling meant another unscheduled rest day. This week is not working out well .

Friday – Easy

In Seville for the weekend so headed out in the morning for some tourism on the run. Ran along the Guadalquivir on a traffic-free path, encountering a mix of surfaces. It was chilly enough to start but warmed up soon enough, even if the sun didn’t break through. All the locals were wrapped up in their winter woollies while I was down to t-shirt and shorts after the first mile :rolleyes:.

• 6.3 miles @ 9:12 (path, trail, cobbles)

Saturday – Easy

Ran in the opposite direction this time, along the river and into Maria Luisa park. The surface in the park was compact sand – nice underfoot, and the park itself was beautiful. The main hazard was squashed oranges everywhere . Did a few loops then returned the same way. Would have liked to have done a race but there was nothing locally. Really made me appreciate how lucky we are with parkrun, and the whole racing scene in Ireland.

• 6.2 miles @ 9:06 (path, trail, sand, cobbles)

Sunday – REST

More delays on the return trip home thanks to a backlog caused by the latest whatsitsname storm. I had secured a pass to get my LSR done in the late afternoon and was looking forward to it when plans were scuppered by a gang of yoofs throwing a rock through my window :mad:. By the time I’d called the guards, located an emergency glazier and dealt with all the fallout the opportunity and the will had passed.

Not a good week .

TOTAL WEEKLY MILES : 18.5 :eek:

Monday – Easy

Enjoyable run up to the Wooden Bridge and back. Lovely clear night with minimal wind.

• 6.0 miles @ 8:48 (path, grass)

Tuesday – Club Session

Ugh such weather. Was going to run over to the club but took a lift with Murph instead – a good decision given the downpour! Coach gave me my own speedy session to do in advance of the Indoors on Sunday: 4 x 400m (90 secs) and 4 x 200m (2 mins). I did this session about 10 days ago in Abbottstown. So much easier when there’s no wind blowing you sideways and no bucketing rain obscuring your view :rolleyes:. Was in a heap after this, wobbly legs and all. Coach happy with my effort .
Targets were 6 min/mile pace for the 400s and 5:20 min/mile pace for the 200s so not bad on average. Only did a bit of a warm up including some drills and strides and a lap cool down.

400s 06:01 05:58 05:50 06:04 05:58 Avg.
200s 05:00 05:16 05:07 05:28 05:12 Avg.

• 3.5 miles total (track)

STATS FOR THE MONTH

MILES: 127. Not great, but it was a short month.

S&C: 4 Pilates, 1 Gym. Need to get my act together!

DAYS RUNNING: 21 out of 28

RACES: 2 . Most unlike me

Month 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013
January 154 141 101 86 0
February 127 134 109 75 0
March 114 124 109 0
April 127 129 101 24
May 127 133 95 81
June 110 110 86 72
July 139 181 2 101
August 91 208 31 37
September 136 133 83 43
October 144 155 93 64
November 147 170 107 69
December 105 113 119 94
281 1515 1666 987 585

RayCun wrote: »

What are those session paces in terms of race paces?

Goal was 1500m pace for the 400s and 800m pace for the 200s. Ended up slightly faster on average, although the recoveries *may* have been on the generous side as I could barely see the watch through the rain :rolleyes:.

dna_leri wrote: »

Did similar but shorter session myself this week in prep for 1500 on Sunday, is that your event?

Hi, yeah, planning 1500 plus 800 on Sunday. There's a 4 hour gap scheduled in between those events so should be recovered hopefully! Best of luck to you - the start lists are up on Athletics Ireland website in case you hadn't seen them.