Leader Of The (Mid) Pack

September 2015 was the last calendar month I went through without running at least one parkrun.

Most regular readers will be very aware of my affinity with Dublin parkruns particularly. It's still my intention to have all the Dublin ones covered again, although with all these new ones starting up, I might not manage that before the end of this year like I imagined.

The "other" is the Irish Runner Paced Mile, which I ran in June in the Phoenix Park. The organisers were at pains to point out that it wasn't a race - I'm acknowledging it as such here

Fri 1/9 - Rest

Sat 2/9 - 18.7 miles @8:36/mi

This was supposed to be a 17 mile run. Not sure how I was so far off, although I reckon I misjudged the distance from home to the start of the loop.

I joined the DCM course at Castleknock College (7.25 miles) and followed the course from there to Dolphin's Barn. 3 miles into my stint, I met 13 of the Waterstown Warriors, who were on their way up to Porterstown for a spot of parkrun tourism. I had other plans today though :pac: Tried to keep the brakes on going down the hill to Chapelizod Gate, tempting as it was to seriously pick up speed. The hill up to Ballyfermot was tough but manageable, and I had to work my way between a mattress and a sofa at the start of the climb. Short breather before getting back on pace and continuing to Dolphin's Barn bridge (12.8 miles) where I left the DCM course and turned left along the Grand Canal, instead of heading up through Crumlin.

After the best part of two miles, I turned left again onto Leeson Street and joined the DCM course again at 0.25 miles. Town was getting busy by now, and between tourists, workers and walk of shamers, at times it was hard enough getting through the human traffic. You'd think they would let the DCM NOVICES MENTOR through wouldn't you? :pac:

I took my first gel of 2017 near Christchurch, shortly before the long, long drag up from Stoneybatter commenced. My pace was at its slowest through Stoneybatter and Manor Street, but actually picked up again in the Phoenix Park. Maybe I didn't want to look too slow, with the hordes making their way around the Polo Grounds, and hundreds of other runners out too. Second gel down the hatch at Áras An Uachtaráin, but I got a stitch at Castleknock roundabout which really annoyed me for a while. Thankfully it had eased off by the time I got to Myo's and put away gel number 3. High 5s worked well for me yesterday - I think I'll be using them again for future LSRs.

Last push up the hill to Castleknock College, and although my legs were tired, they weren't hurting too much, and my breathing was fairly good for the most part. That said, there's a long enough drag from the M50 underpass up to Carpenterstown, which took a little more out of me than I expected.

Job done. I got a shock when I checked the phone! I honestly thought I was going a lot slower. I had decided to run this one by feel, so once I started the clock, I stuck the phone in my pocket, and away I went. If I was puffing too much, I could slow down a bit more. It's certainly got me thinking that my goal is well within reach!

Sun 3/9 - Club run, Phoenix Park

Between yesterday's LSR and a good few pints last night, this was always going to be tricky, especially in the rain on the trails of the Phoenix Park. I hung on to the lads for the first two miles, then eased back considerably, running on my own for most of the next three, although I did meet a friend by the 15 Acres. Two of the clubmates caught me again just after the Papal Cross, so that gave me an extra boost to stay with them for the last mile or so. 5.9 miles @8:29/mi today, somewhere between 47 & 48 for the week. That's my highest weekly mileage this year, and might even be my best ever.

8 weeks till DCM now. I'm away for warm weather training tomorrow, so a 20 mile LSR may not be a realistic prospect. I'll play it by ear and see what might work, and what definitely won't. Thanks for reading! J.

Immortality Beckons! Week 9 of 16

Sorry this is "a bit" later than usual.... can't really do these updates properly on the phone :rolleyes:

This was to be the week where I really nailed DCM prep with a massive warm weather training stint in Lanzarote. It didn't quite happen like that.

Mon 4/9 - Rest

Even though we weren't away until the afternoon, I wasn't tempted to get a few early miles in before the four hour flight to ACE. Arrived at the hotel after 8 PM, so at that stage it was time for dinner and a ramble out for drinks.

Tue 5/9 - 3.7 miles @ 9:19/mile

Even leaving just after 7:30 AM, it was 23 deg C as I set out along Avenida de las Playas. The route was an out and back with a couple of drags along the way, the Heartbreak Hill of the piece being the hill from the Fariones shops up to the Biosfera shopping centre at half way. Great to be doing this with the sun coming up over Puerto Del Carmen. No heroics today!

Wed 6/9 - 6.7 miles @ 9:09/mi

Calling this an MLR seems a bit cheeky, but I wasn't tempted to go further. This time I went east from the hotel out past Jameos Playa and around to Hotel La Geria, before turning back and repeating yesterday's route. Hard enough going, it being an extra 3 miles and the fact I went a bit quicker.

Thu 7/9 - 3.7 miles @ 9:46/mi

Late one (by our standards!) last night meant this was harder again. Legs were windmilling around but not really going anywhere. Second mile was a 10:14 split! Even with the aforementioned Biosfera hill included, I had a good laugh at that when I saw the stats. Better than nothing I suppose

Fri 8/9 - Rest

As planned.

Sat 9/9 - 20 mile LSR Rest

I had a route devised for what would be the LSR to end all LSRs. It was to be Wednesday's route x 3, with the Biosfera hill left out of the third one. The fact that it would have taken me well over the 20 bears no relevance

Trouble was, I'd somehow picked up a fairly nasty throat infection, which, apart from making swallowing uncomfortable, brought on a fair bit of coughing. I would live to fight another day.

Sun 10/9

You've probably guessed already. Yip, no danger of my ailments clearing up in time for a crack at this. So unbelievably frustrating, he says as he remembers watching pictures of the wreckage left behind by Hurricane Irma. Monday would provide salvation; two LSRs in a week is not something I'd normally attempt, let alone recommend! But this was different.

denis b wrote: »

Take your time J. 2 good nights sleep and you won't know yourself. Parnell Park or O'Toole Park?[/QUOTE]

Parnell it is, as my Erins Isle team take on the might of St Marks, who have 'Dotsy' O'Callaghan as their star man - still very much a superstar at Junior A. Hopefully my stats sheet will make for pleasant reading come 6:45 or so

Sat 16/9

Thursday night was horrible, with a nasty 40-45 minute stint of near constant coughing where I thought my lungs were going to come up. Friday was painless thankfully.

However, I still didn't think it would be a good idea to take on the planned 20 miler (or any LSR) at this stage, halfway through my course of antibiotics. Porterstown parkrun #100 would have to suffice on its own.

Following a 1.6 mile warmup at over 9 min/mi pace, I found a spot in the middle of the pack (over 100 today, appropriately) and kept it fairly comfortable. I decided to treat it as a progression run. First lap 7:42, just under 15 with a lap to go. I was passing people every so often, with nobody passing me. A little sprint down the home straight got me just under the 22 minutes. 21:58 to be precise. 16th overall, 4th M40. Way better than expected, and no coughing at any stage. Maybe another run with clubmates tomorrow, but we'll see about that one in the morning.

Immortality Beckons! Week 11 of 16

It's really getting near to cards on the table time. Overall, the last few weeks have been disastrous. This week should be a step back week, as I'm lining up in the Race Series HM on Saturday. However, I stand to cover more mileage this week than the previous two combined, if all goes to plan. Sure immortality isn't supposed to be easy to achieve

Mon 18/9 - 6 miles @9:13/mi

I got out for this several hours later than intended. Only a small hangover this morning, which cleared up quite early - it was more due to general laziness that I didn't get out until after 3 PM. I'm still on antibiotics too. This run was derived from the "6M easy with fartlek" on the Asics plan, scheduled for Tuesday. I'm in college tomorrow, so having today off work gave me a chance to swap it in here.

Anyway, I headed up to Porterstown hoping I'd have plenty of space along the tarmac paths. I kept it really slow, apart from three or four 100-150 metre bursts of speed during each of the five laps. Out and back from the house brought it up to 6 miles. Lots of dogs and their owners wandering around, so I wasn't always able to pick up the pace in my preferred spots. Never mind. Job done.

My plan for the rest of the week consists of the club session on Wednesday, an easy 6 miles or so on Thursday, and then the half on Saturday. Here, I intend to go with the 1:50 pacers until the 7 mile mark, and then see if I can pick up the pace heading back in. Looking forward to it

Testosterscone wrote: »

As a former Marks man myself I begrudgingly want to say congrats on the win

Thanks L, like ourselves Marks have had a lot of tough years, so whoever won was really going to savour it. Either way, we're both promoted to Intermediate for 2018.

scotindublin wrote: »

Hopefully a good week under your belt this week J; you have been having a run (pardon the pun) of it lately.

A solid few weeks will get you back on track.

Thanks C, just hoping nothing else goes wrong from here!

Singer wrote: »

Is it worth racing the half? Given that you've been ill, and missing lots of running, a good long run might be better for "the main thing"?

Au contraire B, I have zero intention of racing this one Might not have phrased it very well earlier.

PB is 1:37, set in last year's Race Series HM. Only HM this year was 1:38 in the Rock 'N' Roll.

1:50 pace represents PMP + 27/28 seconds (roughly) for the tough opening 7 miles. Even if I managed PMP for the downhill return, that would still only be around 1:46/1:47. The last time I covered HM distance in that time was the Wings For Life run, where I spent more time talking to anyone within earshot and generally enjoying it, in spite of the warm day and very hilly course.

Now had I had it in my mind to race it, a tough decision may have been necessary :rolleyes: given, as you rightly point out, the major lack of mileage (a lot of it down to illness) in recent weeks. As it stands, I'll be delighted if I can even make the above strategy work on the day.

denis b wrote: »

Well done on the Hurling win. Great to see Isles on the hurling map again. Will be "eventing" in the DCM Half and fully expect to see you gallop by me with a surge of enthusiasm :eek:

Thanks D, first step on the road back for Isles

Not so sure I'll be galloping by you....I'll elaborate...

Tue 19/9 - Rest

Back in college this evening after work, for my first lecture in my degree year. Although I'll only be there on Tuesdays, there's three other subjects to be studied by distance. With two assignments to be submitted in mid November, it's an extra ball in the air to make the next few weeks even more complicated.

Wed 20/9 - Club session, Porterstown Park

Not feeling the love for this at all, on a dark and wet evening in Porterstown. I even drove up, which I hardly ever do. After a mile warmup around the grass track, followed by some strides, we were ready for the session. 4 x 4 mins, with 3 min recoveries.

First rep wasn't too bad, about 1015 metres. I was thinking that if I could keep it in that range I'd be happy enough. Second rep slipped to about 995, while the third was only about 970. I considered leaving it at three, but the fact that one of the clubmates who's running the HM was finishing it out gave me an extra incentive to do the same. The final rep, I eased off considerably for the first three minutes, picking it up for the closing minute to end up around 950 metres. After a warmdown around the park perimeter as the darkness rapidly descended, it was time to go home. At least I got out and did it, although it would have been so much easier to flop onto the couch.

Tonight I just didn't feel like I'd any energy. Today was my first day off antibiotics, which probably had something to do with it. Perhaps Singer's suggestion above re: the HM may have more merit than I gave it previously. Of course, I might still try the original strategy. But if tonight is anything to go by, even that might feel too much like racing. Suppose I could try something like starting at 2:00 pace, and turning it into another type of progression run. It might turn out better than running out of puff early on. Decisions, decisions.