Still trying to figure it all out.

hot buttered scones · 05-04-2018 11:55PM

Wednesday 04/04

Session - 3x90s, 3x2mins, 3x3mins, 3x2mins, 3x90s@6:20, 90s recovery

I had to get up early to get this done before work after a rubbish nights sleep, but for a change there was no bargaining with myself to be done - I was happy enough to get stuck in, but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to hit the required pace. The first rep as ever was a bit sluggish, but after that I was flying. The weather was pretty bad - I was soaked to the skin after a couple of reps, and the wind was pretty strong. My preferred spot for these morning sessions had reopened after being closed off for the winter - a flat loop (basically the perimeter of a car park) about 700m long. Most of the 90s reps were done into the wind along one side, with the rest done around the loop so 50/50 into and against the wind. The pace did not feel as tough as expected, and the recoveries felt generous enough (I know I'm going to regret that statement

). The 3 min reps were the hardest alright, especially the last minute of each, but overall I was happy with the effort. As usual, the 2nd set of 2 min reps felt harder than the first but I didn't tire towards the end of the session which was a good sign

Warmup: 2@8:27

Rep Paces:

|Time|Pace| |Time|Pace| |Time|Pace| |Time|Pace| |Time|Pace
1|90s|6.22||2 min|6:22||3 min|6:19||2 min|6:15||90s|6:08
2|90s|6.17||2 min|6:12||3 min|6:18||2 min|6:10||90s|6:11
3|90s|6.16||2 min|6:13||3 min|6:20||2 min|6:19||90s|6:10

All recoveries jogged.

7.3 miles total

Cool down: 2@8:25

11.3 for day, and all done before 8am.

Thursday 05/04

Today was a bit crap. I woke up feeling tired and felt really cold all day. I was convinced I was coming down with something. Although I did feel a lot better after eating (I'd skipped breakfast for some reason). I didn't run in the morning as previously planned, instead putting it off until before work in the evening. I got off to a bad start, getting a stitch after half a mile or so (too soon after dinner), but I ran it off and felt ok in the end. More wind and rain, making it a bit uncomfortable at times. Yeah - I think I basically just wasn't in the mood for this today.
6@8:25

hot buttered scones · 07-04-2018 07:59PM

Friday 06/04

6@8:14 over the Pfizer 6 mile course on nice bright evening for a change. A couple of pauses to let cars pass on a tight section, but other than that a most enjoyable run.

Saturday 07/04

Out of bed after work to watch the Merseyside derby (3 hours sleep :eek: ) then 20 mins easy shakeout before the race tomorrow. Broke in a pair of Saucony A type I'd gotten cheap a few weeks ago - I'm not sure if I'd race in 'em, but they'll be great for sessions.

UCC 10k in the morning - I'm feeling crap so that's a good sign.

Yerrah, we'll see how it goes.

Swashbuckler · 08-04-2018 06:26AM

Best of luck today. Run well

Murph_D · 08-04-2018 07:04AM

All the best!

Singer · 08-04-2018 07:08AM

Enjoy!

Bungy Girl · 08-04-2018 07:09AM

Looks like a good day for it (well, in Dublin anyway

). Have a great race!

hot buttered scones · 08-04-2018 08:33AM

Murph_D wrote:

All the best!

Singer wrote:

Enjoy!

Bungy Girl wrote:

Looks like a good day for it (well, in Dublin anyway ). Have a great race!

Cheers lads. It's f'in miserable down here, so if ye're procrastinating about going out this morning, I'd get going before the rain hits ye.

hot buttered scones · 08-04-2018 01:35PM

Sunday 08/04

Race BHAA UCC 10k

Splits: 6:12; 6:19; 6:51; 6:33; 6:42; 6:44; 1:12 (6:24 pace)

The start of this was a bit messy - there was a good crowd of us on the wrong side of the start line and I couldn't get back far enough for my liking - although I have to stress this was not the stewards fault, we should have all been in place long before that. There was small delay as a van appeared out of someones driveway, and then we were off. And out I went way too fast (even though it felt ok). I saw dublin runner saying something on another thread about messing up the first 400m can mess up your whole race - and that's what happened here. I was under 6 min pace for the first 400 I'd say. I found my space early on and tried to relax into it - but the legs felt heavy and the air felt close. I had rained pretty heavily while I was warming up, and it left some sticky air even though the breeze was cool and at our backs for the first half.
Anyway, I pulled the pace back and had a better 2nd mile - this was a very slight drag all the way and I knew I was working bit too hard. the 3rd mile starts with a couple of small rises, but I pushed too hard on these because when we came to the real hill I felt like I'd no power in my legs - it's definitely a bit steeper than it looks on Strava. FWIW - I do a fair percentage of my easy runs on hilly/rolling routes with similar profile to this race, so it's not like I'm not used to it. So the hill sucked, and I was passed by a guy I'm usually in and around the same time as and I couldn't catch him - so the head started going. So the road rises, then flattens out, and you've not yet recovered and there's another small climb - leaking time the whole while. I started the feel a bit better as we came down the other side, but again I took it too fast trying to make up time and found it hard to put the brakes on. The next section is a bit of a false flat as you approach the skew bridge by the Anglers Rest, but all the same I was able to pick up the pace. Crossed the bridge and turned onto the road passed the Anglers and into the teeth of the wind and I was spent. That was it. Breathing was all over the place and it was like I was stuck in a low gear, like someone had pulled the plug and all the energy drained out of me. As we turned onto the Straight road at the 4 mile mark I was able to put in a few surges, but every time it felt like my chest was tightening and I couldn't get a good rhythm going. It just felt really hard. The head was totally gone at this stage and I was struggling to hit 6:45 pace. My pace had dropped to 7 as we passed the 5 mile marker. I tried to push on a bit but the lungs just weren't playing ball - every time I pushed the pace I the chest would tighten again and I just couldn't control my breathing. There was to be no sprint finish, just a small push to avoid being passed on the line. No working in groups, got exposed on more or less on my own for the last 2 miles with the wind having an effect, and I just kept getting slower. I looked at the splits of the guy who I said passed me early on - he finished 1:20 ahead of me, but ran the first mile 15s slower - says it all really. I ran the race badly - didn't stick to my plan of going out at just below sub 40 pace, not getting wasted on the hills and picking it up for the last 2 miles. I gave serious thoughts to DNFing or at least just jogging it home on more than one occasion.

Excuses: I felt like crap for the last few days and again this morning when I woke up. I'd come off nights yesterday morning and had crappy sleep for 3 or 4 days (I know I'll get no sympathy form those of ye with smallies!). I almost feel a bit run down. It also felt surprisingly close today - humidity is my nemesis. I never settled into this race and was paying way too much attention to my watch, and probably stressing too much about slowing on the hills. Somewhere in around the 3rd mile, I started to feel a bit sick too every time I pushed on.

Time 40:37 (although the clock said 40:15 or close to it - it was wrong for me and everyone else). So this is a PB for a 10k race, my previous best 10k race time being 41:19 in the Croppy Boy 10k last September over a much, much tougher (hills!) course. It doesn't fell like a PB though for 2 reason. The main one being my 10k split from the Mallow 10 mile 2 weeks ago was 40:00 according to Strava. I also know I messed up this race and could have done better - a bare sub 40 at least was achievable to be honest if I'd have ran a better paced first half of this race. So I'm disappointed with my performance - I should know better at this stage. Today just wasn't my day - I've had many like it before and I'm sure I'll have more in the future too.

Total miles for the day (including warm up and cool down) - 10.2
Weekly total: 42.1

Swashbuckler · 08-04-2018 05:44PM

I know how you feel and the knee jerk reaction is to tell you well done on the pb but when you're not feeling it that's little consolation.... So... On the positive side - at worst that was a great session and will stand to you. Getting a run like that into your system is better than any intervals. You'll benefit from that no doubt.

Also your last nine weeks you've run at least five days a week and all of them weeks greater than 39 miles a week. Consistency like that will have you reaping rewards in the long term. And I think you're similar to me in that sense. We're in it for the long haul!

Finally a question and tell me mind my own business but I've seen you mention a few times about breathing difficulties during training or racing. Are you an ex smoker or asthmatic? Just wondering if it's something you have addressed coz you've mentioned issues with your lungs a few times. Like I said tell me mind my own business if I'm overstepping the line.

Actually finally finally you might find you get the most sympathy from the ones with smallies . Haha. We know your pain. What I will say is I ran early during the week and thought to myself I don't know how you do those early mornings so often. It takes fair commitment.

Finally finally finally well done on the pb. Haha

hot buttered scones · 08-04-2018 08:47PM

Swashbuckler wrote:

Finally a question and tell me mind my own business but I've seen you mention a few times about breathing difficulties during training or racing. Are you an ex smoker or asthmatic? Just wondering if it's something you have addressed coz you've mentioned issues with your lungs a few times. Like I said tell me mind my own business if I'm overstepping the line.

Yes, yes and no! Yes - Ex smoker (smoked from age 13 to age 38). Yes - Had asthma as a kid, but it still effects me from time to time - running, in fact amy excercise at all helps immensely. I mostly suffer from hayfever type symptoms though - there all related. I really notice it when its humid. And no, that's in no way overstepping the mark. A large part of my improvement was learning to breathe properly - slowly and deeply rather than fast and shallow, run tall rather than hunched over.
For all these reasons, sometimes I'm still amazed that I can run for as long as 6 miles when 5 years ago I was out of breath dragging my smoke smelling 15 stone backside up a flight of stairs. So yeah, maybe 40:37 is a grand time for a 43 year old mildly asthmatic ex smoker!? :-)

Swashbuckler · 08-04-2018 08:51PM

Holy crap well then that's even more impressive. Feels like it's a pretty big obstacle to your running at times which is a pity.

hot buttered scones · 08-04-2018 09:47PM

Swashbuckler wrote:

Holy crap well then that's even more impressive. Feels like it's a pretty big obstacle to your running at times which is a pity.

Nah, it's just another thing. Like some people have dodgy knees or whatever. The only really bad part is I'm nearly always bent in two after I cross the finish line. Takes me a few minutes to catch my breath. And the snot rockets. It's if I have a cold or upper respiratory infection that it can cause some bother in training, but I never get full on asthma attacks or anything. Training has improved my lungs and heart. It is possibly why I'm drawn to the longer stuff though, because it puts a bit less pressure on the lungs. Maybe. I dunno, I just go out and run and sometimes I get a bit caught for breath and can't go as hard as I'd like. PIA when that happens in a race, but great when it doesn't.

Bluesquare · 09-04-2018 06:13AM

As another asthmatic xsmoker I hear your pain . I find I struggle with wind - hard to regulate my breathing when trying to move at a decent pace - and colds hurt my running more than the average.

If I don’t warm up properly or start to fast I’m in trouble.

Give me a warm climate anyway.

It will all come together for you . When is your next race?

hot buttered scones · 09-04-2018 12:52PM

Bluesquare wrote: »

As another asthmatic xsmoker I hear your pain . I find I struggle with wind - hard to regulate my breathing when trying to move at a decent pace - and colds hurt my running more than the average.

If I don’t warm up properly or start to fast I’m in trouble.

Give me a warm climate anyway.

It will all come together for you . When is your next race?

I don't really see it as that big factor for me - possibly because I feel a million times better than when I smoked. The wind and cold can be troublesome, but the worst is those warm, very overcast summer days when you can smell the pollen and the air is like breathing soup - humidity is the worst. But I think these things effect everyone, they just effect me a little bit more sometimes. I notice it a lot more when I'm tired. And mostly I'm ok when I'm running - it's when I stop that it can cause me a bit of grief. On average though, I think we have an ok climate for running - it's never really too hot or too cold for the most part. It could do with being a little bit drier though!

Singer · 09-04-2018 01:16PM

hot buttered scones wrote: »

For all these reasons, sometimes I'm still amazed that I can run for as long as 6 miles when 5 years ago I was out of breath dragging my smoke smelling 15 stone backside up a flight of stairs. So yeah, maybe 40:37 is a grand time for a 43 year old mildly asthmatic ex smoker!? :-)

Heh - last week I was running home and decided to pick up the pace after 7 miles or something. It struck me that it I hadn't remembered in a while that it is utterly ridiculous that I can run 10 miles at all, never mind starting dropping some faster miles in on a whim.

That said, 40:37 is not a good enough time for you! You're in far better shape than that

AuldManKing · 09-04-2018 01:54PM

Singer wrote: »

That said, 40:37 is not a good enough time for you! You're in far better shape than that

I agree with that - and its early enough in the season to not worry.

My general season goes something like this.........

Jan/Feb - Training away

Mar/Apr: Run 10ks about 1min slower than PB / 5k's about 20s slower

May: Get a few more races under the belt - steady improvement.

June/July: Tend to PB & be close to where I want to be.

If you are at peak now, then you'll burn out by summer.

Take Swashbuckler as an example - he was working under a different timeline, but his 10k was near where his peak 10k fitness should have been and he got a great PB.
He's now in HM training - if he ran one today, it'll be different to if he runs one in 2 months.

you are on a good trajectory - keep the faith

hot buttered scones · 09-04-2018 01:57PM

Singer wrote: »

Heh - last week I was running home and decided to pick up the pace after 7 miles or something. It struck me that it I hadn't remembered in a while that it is utterly ridiculous that I can run 10 miles at all, never mind starting dropping some faster miles in on a whim.

That said, 40:37 is not a good enough time for you! You're in far better shape than that

You said it man! The truth of the matter is I ballsed up the start, I ballsed up the hills and I crumpled like a wet paper towel when the going got tough!

But yeah, it's nuts we can do this stuff!

And your an ultra guy too n' all now! :eek:

hot buttered scones · 09-04-2018 02:09PM

AuldManKing wrote: »

I agree with that - and its early enough in the season to not worry.

My general season goes something like this.........

Jan/Feb - Training away

Mar/Apr: Run 10ks about 1min slower than PB / 5k's about 20s slower

May: Get a few more races under the belt - steady improvement.

June/July: Tend to PB & be close to where I want to be.

If you are at peak now, then you'll burn out by summer.

Take Swashbuckler as an example - he was working under a different timeline, but his 10k was near where his peak 10k fitness should have been and he got a great PB.
He's now in HM training - if he ran one today, it'll be different to if he runs one in 2 months.

you are on a good trajectory - keep the faith

Cheers for the words of encouragement AMK. Yerrah, I'm not worried, just dissapointed in my execution is all. I know I can do better, I did better two weeks ago in Mallow and then ran another 3.8 miles at pace after it. In case you haven't guessed, I'm the kind of guy who tends to overthink things and I'll go through all the variables openly until I come to the right conclusion - which is in this case is that I f0cked it up good n' proper! Yeah, I'd a heavy week (for me) and wasn't well rested, but I should have accounted for that in my approach to this race. I might have snuck in under 40 had I done that, but I didn't so it's another one to chalk down to experience. I've a few races planned to bring me to the start of June, and then holidays (I love holiday running!) and then marathon training. All the races now are just bonus territory while I'm training to train. Root out all the mistakes early doors and get it right for the big one in October. Plus a half PB in Charleville too, of course.

Honestly, I've been kicking myself a bit since yesterday, and the comments left here have cheered me up no end. Thanks all.

Swashbuckler · 09-04-2018 04:15PM

Just to add to what AMK said;

I started training with T in mid November.

8 weeks in ran a 5M in 30:07. Was a little disappointed but felt strong.
11 weeks in ran a 5k in 18:05. Again a little disappointed.
14 weeks in made a balls of Lahinch 5M.
15 weeks in ran Adare 10k in 37:11. A pb of roughly 30s.
20 weeks in ran Ennis 10k in 30:05. A pb of 1:06.
Those 20 weeks were (in my eyes anyway) building me towards being very strong on the 10k with some shorter 5k specific stuff in there too and most recently some tempo stuff geared towards the 10M and Half.

I'm running Limerick Half which will roughly be week 25. However it will only be week 4 or 5 including "longer specific stuff" so I dont expect miracles in Limerick. I do expect miracles in Charleville in September though as I'll hopefully have put in a very specific half marathon block. haha.

So trust the process. You're building very well and I'm sure the adaptations will start kicking in....usually when you least expect it. haha

skyblue46 · 09-04-2018 04:18PM

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Just to add to what AMK said;

I started training with T in mid November.

8 weeks in ran a 5M in 30:07. Was a little disappointed but felt strong.
11 weeks in ran a 5k in 18:05. Again a little disappointed.
14 weeks in made a balls of Lahinch 5M.
15 weeks in ran Adare 10k in 37:11. A pb of roughly 30s.
20 weeks in ran Ennis 10k in 30:05. A pb of 1:06.
Those 20 weeks were (in my eyes anyway) building me towards being very strong on the 10k with some shorter 5k specific stuff in there too and most recently some tempo stuff geared towards the 10M and Half.

I'm running Limerick Half which will roughly be week 25. However it will only be week 4 or 5 including "longer specific stuff" so I dont expect miracles in Limerick. I do expect miracles in Charleville in September though as I'll hopefully have put in a very specific half marathon block. haha.

So trust the process. You're building very well and I'm sure the adaptations will start kicking in....usually when you least expect it. haha

I know you were rightly proud of it but I think that Ennis time is a wee bit fast! :pac::pac:

Swashbuckler · 09-04-2018 04:41PM

skyblue46 wrote:

I know you were rightly proud of it but I think that Ennis time is a wee bit fast!

Haha maybe a tad. I don't plan on it being a pb for too long anyway

hot buttered scones · 14-04-2018 03:25AM

So back to it - work schedule this week is a bit messy - so I have to fit things around it the best I can.

Monday 09/04

6@9:10 (very slow last mile - took it handy on the hill). Schedule said 6 easy (Well it actually said off, but I;ve pushed everything a day forward to fit in around work/home stuff). Took it at recovery effort/pace due to the race the day before. Starting to warm up outside - found today to be a bit muggy tbh. Felt a bit tired, but the legs felt good.

Tuesday 10/04

Session 4 x (4mins/3mins/2mins/1min), 90s rec, 4 mins between sets

Rough distance (4min=1k, 3min=750m, 2 mins =500m, 1min=250m)

Set|Time|Pace| |Time|Pace| |Time|Pace| |Time|Pace|
1|4mins|6.29||3mins|6:27||2mins|6:31||1min|6:24
2|4mins|6.34||3mins|6:34||2mins|6:35||1min|6:29
3|4mins|6.38||3mins|6:43||2mins|6:29||1min|6:31
4|4mins|6.40||3mins|6:30||2mins|6:39||1min|6:03

This was awful. I'm must have done something bad to Testosterscone and not noticed.

Goal pace was 6:30 for the reps and I was blowing hard after the first 4 minutes. I was never comfortable - never got a good rhythm going and felt under pressure from the start. I managed to jog the recoveries up to the 2nd 3 min rep then it was walking/shuffling/standing from then on. The 4 min between sets were jogged slowly. By the 2nd set I'd decided 6:35 to 6:40 would do. The wind definitely played a part though. I ran most of the reps anticlockwise (~500m lap), with a decent headwind/crosswind for a good bit of each lap. Switched to clockwise for the last 2 of the 3rd set and the last 3 of the 4th set and it definitely made a difference -whatever way the wind was blowing it didn't feel as bad running the other way round. Just went hard for the lat min due to pure frustration. I don't know why this doesn't look as hard on paper to me - I must be missing something.
I felt wiped out during the cool down too, but still managed easy pace. I knew today would be a big ask and wondered if it was wise doing it only 2 days after a race, but once I managed the pace I got through the session. It was either that or do it at 6am the following day and that wasn't going to happen this week.

A high volume session with 13.2 miles for the day including warm up and cool down( around 2 miles each).

Wednesday 11/04

Woke up feeling rough - sent my excuse texts out and dove back in under the duvet. Ventured out around lunch time for some easy mile on grass up the Tank field. The ground was soft and slippy in places and just no fun to run on. Even though I was taking it very easy, I started running out of steam after 2 miles and the effort levels/HR were a good bit higher than they should have been. After another little bit I head out on the roads to see if that would be better, but it wasn't, so I shuffled back to the car and called it a day.

3.56@8:58

I was a small bit worried - was I heading for a burn out? What was wrong? Then it dawned on me that I probably hadn't eaten enough for the previous few days, so I got to work on that straight away. I didn't stop for the day.

Thursday 12/04

Feeling better after a good days refuelling and a good nights sleep. 6@8:32 before work. Still slightly tired, but the effort levels seemed to have returned to normal.

Friday 13/04

A lie in and a bit of a lazy day, with a session in the before work.

7x800m (3:05 target time) off reducing recoveries (90sx3, 75sx2, 60s)

After Tuesdays session being so hard and me finding it hard to get up to 6:30 pace, I was a bit apprehensive about this. It went ok in the end. A beautiful sunny evening with some heat in the Sun.
90s recoveries were fine and I jogged them. 75s ones not so much - I pushed too hard at the end of the 3rd rep and had to walk the start of the first 75s recovery. I got a bit of a coughing fit during the 2nd 75s and was just bate for the 60s - so they were a bit of walking and a slow shuffle. No real wind to speak of. I also made a mess of programming the Garmin. I had the last 2 reps as 800 miles, so I just ran at the right pace for around 3:05 and pressed the lap button. I also messed up the 6th rep when I noticed the error by pausing for around 15s about 30s in until I decided what to do about the mistake.
After all that messing, I was happy enough with the session - a few of the reps were a tad on the fast side, but not by too much.
Effort levels were high and I briefly hit close to HR max during the 3rd and 4th reps.

I felt great afterwards though - tired, but energised. I felt like I got into a nice rhythm during the session and could gauge the effort well after the first rep. Even though the effort level was high at times, it felt sustainable. I definitely could have done at least one more rep (not that I'm asking for it or anything!!)

Splits: 3:02; 3:02; 3:01; 3:04; 3:08; 3:06

8.2 for the day with warm up and cool down (around 2 miles each).

hot buttered scones · 14-04-2018 10:14PM

Saturday 14/04

Long run - 13 miles

13.1@8:10

Wasn't really looking forward to this - in between nights is not my favourite time for these runs, as time is tight, but needs must etc. In the end it was an enjoyable run, and the effort levels were never higher than comfortable. I set out from work and after about 1.5 miles or so I joined the course for next weeks 25k and ran the last 4.5ish miles of that, and then continued with a mini tour of the Carrigaline/Ringaskiddy area to get me back to work. Took a gel at mile 8 simply because I want to take some next week and I hadn't done since DCM - no ill effects.

So after a bit of a wobble earlier on in the week, I think I recovered well and the week doesn't look too bad. No running tomorrow due to other commitments, so I planned a rest day.

Weekly total: 50.3 miles

hot buttered scones · 24-04-2018 12:13AM

Sunday 15/04

rest

Monday 16/04

6@8:20. Headed down to Centre park road for a nice flat run. Nice and easy, effort levels fine.

Tuesday 17/04

Mini Session - 1,2,3,2,1 mins@6:30 off 90s recovery

Paces for reps: 6:22; 6:25; 6:29; 6:24; 6:15

As usual the 1 minute reps were too fast, but overall this just felt like a leg loosener with effort levels as expected.

Total for the day: 6.2 miles

Wednesday 18/04

6.1@8:10, local route with a few short climbs/descents. Warm enough, but feeling good. Nothing of note.

Thursday 19/04

Rest

Friday 20/04

5@8:29

Early morning job before work - felt like the effort levels were higher, but HR was low enough to be easy/recovery effort so just one of those a.m. runs where the body takes a while to wake up. Felt a small bit sluggish

Saturday 21/04

Shakeout + 6x20s strides. No more sluggishness - felt fresh enough. 'Twas fairly warm though.

hot buttered scones · 24-04-2018 01:37AM

Sunday 22/04

Race - Great Railway Run 25k

Hmmm. Where to start??

The race itself is a point to point running from Centre Park road in the city to Carrigaline, via the Mahon Estuary walkway, the old Railway line via Rochestown and Passage West, then down through Monkstown, Raffeen, Shanbally and into Carrigaline. The route itself is flat enough until around mile 10. After that there's a few small hills and drags, with the last 2 miles being fairly small rises and dips - which you'd barely register on an easy run, but felt like steep rises on Sunday.

Warmup: 1.5 miles - up shady Centre Park road into a gentle cooling breeze, and back down Monahan road - the breeze was at my back and without shade it was already starting to feel a bit warm. Should have paid more attention.

Miles 1-4

6:35; 6:34; 6:39; 6:55

First thing first - I was hoping to run this in under 1:45, which would have brought me a top 10 finish in the previous 2 years. Looking around the start line I the top 10 was gone already as I recognized a lot more faster guys than me lining up. So it was a race for time then. Early on I was in with a group who were running at a decent pace, effort felt ok, but maybe a small bit too fast. I took it very easy going up the hill by Blackrock Castle and also on the descent. There was a water station 2 miles in in the carpark, and most of this went over my head. Already. It dawn on me to just slow down, but the heat wasn't getting to me at this stage. Everything felt ok. I'd let a few guys head off as they were going too fast for me and I was prepared to settle in to around 6:40-6:45 pace. For mile 4 we headed into the wind, which had picked up and was stronger than I expected, so I just went of effort and was being careful not too waste too much energy yet. However, I was starting to tire already. I had half a notion to stop and jog back the old railway line about 1.5 miles to the start and head home, but my car keys had gone in a van to Carrigaline in my gear bag, so there was nothing else to do but run there!

Miles 5-8

6:58; 6:53; 7:00; 7:01

Turned the corner to head back towards Rochestown - with the wind at my back, but I couldn't pick up the pace. After a while I settled on 6:50, then after another while 7:00 pace was enough. I took 2 water bottles form one station - one to drink and one to cool myself down. Crazy - it was only 12 or 13 degrees but I was really feeling too warm. Less cloud cover than expected too. Mile 8 - we came off the old railway line onto the road in Passage - the sun went in and there was a bit of shade from the buildings. I immediately felt better and pushed on a bit, but a small climb through the town killed the pace a bit. The worst thing about this race is that you get isolated fairly early on. I'd been running more or less on my own for a couple of miles now. I could see one or two a couple of hundred meters ahead and I could hear a few a bit behind. Details are a bit fuzzy, but I think I either got caught or caught up with a couple of lads around mile 7 or so, but was on my own again at the end of mile 8 and for most of the rest of the race. Sure I could see a few 25k runners, but we were all very spread out.

Miles 9-12

6:59; 7:13; 7:32; 7:18

Mile 9 was ok - a nice crosswind for cooling and a shout out from the 10k runners waiting for their start got me going a bit, but I was definitely suffering here. Somewhere around here there was an annoying section where we came off the road and onto a gravel path, through an old railway "tunnel" by the waters edge - it was horrible to run on.
Miles 10, 11 - turned into a strong headwind with mile 11 having a good long drag too to bring us onto the N28. The headwind was killing me and I felt Like I'd no power in the legs to get up the drag. There was a lot of tree shade here though, which was a relief. Then we went back in the opposite direction towards Shanbally - another drag, but the minute the sun hit me I melted. I lad passed me here, urging me to go with him, but I couldn't keep up. I felt better once the short climb was over and put in a bit of a pace injection to get me round the roundabout and keep things going.

Mile 13-15 + the final stretch (0.62 miles)

7:21; 7:18; 7:41; 0.64miles@7:08 pace

Mile 13 - due to a route change because of roadworks we headed up a boithrín at the back of Novartis - which slowly climbs for only a short distance, before starting to fall off again. As the road rose, I started to wobble a bit. Felt a bit lightheaded and noticed I wasn't exactly going in straight line. So I stopped and walked for about 30 seconds or so. I decided I was in the middle of nowhere and dropping out now and going looking for help would probably be harder and take longer than finishing the race, so I finished the race. There was a nice bit of downhill to come and a good bit of shade - so a bit more pace again to keep the hope of even a PB alive. The last stretch is the back road into Carrigaline. The guy giving the massages after described this road as having loads of little rollers - which is a good description. I briefly walked 2 or 3 more time, and always at the end of a climb. The wind had picked up a good bit at this stage and we were running right into it, which didn't help. There was a nasty sharp little bump with about half a mile to go. I though I was done for after it and was prepared to jog home, but I could hear footsteps behind me, so I summoned up a last bit of pace to just not be passed before the finish.

In the end I finished in 28th place out of 371. I would have needed 1:40 for a top 10 this year, and 1:45 was just about enough for 20th. I reckon I only lost 7 or 8 places and they were nearly all in mile 4 and 5. I got passed by one guy in mile 12 and that was it for the rest of the race I think.
Bar a few funny looking spikes on the HR graph which I'm discounting, I was never pushing into the red zone at any stage. It was like I couldn't find that extra gear, to push on and empty the tank. Once I hit the hills and drags, my legs were gone too - just not strong enough at the moment. The heat was a factor too - I seriously cannot handle warm. When I last did this race 2 years ago it was bright and sunny, but it was 2 degrees at the start, and I had to scrape frost off my car in the morning. This year - well it just felt warm and humid, even though it probably wasn't too bad. That's what a long winter does I suppose.

So not really a pleasureable experience. I was suffering from early on and the last 10 miles were a bit of a slog. Felt rubbish afterwards, like I'd wasted my time a bit. My legs were hurting - especially my feet and quads, so I'm going to have a rethink on the takumi Rens. I might try something with a bit more cushioning. Savage calf cramps last night too at work every time I crouched down to get something out of a low press. Felt short of air at times too, but that can happen when its humid. The feedback from nearly everyone I spoke too afterwards was that the conditions weren't ideal and a lot of people ran slower than expected, so at least I wasn't alone. Overall, just a strange feeling of not firing on all cylinders - I couldn't give anymore because there was nothing left to give, even though my effort levels were below max.
Btw - I took gels at miles 4,8 and 12 and had eaten well the day before and in the morning. I'd slept fairly well the two nights previous as well.

I was fairly disappointed with the result to be honest. 7:04 average pace, when my last marathon was 7:11 and I'm aiming for sub 3 in the autumn. However, all my training has been geared toward 10k kinda stuff, so maybe that was to be expected. I still have a good result from Mallow and I'm hoping that I'll do ok in a 6 miler and a 5k over the next few weeks. I'm looking at the Cork Half now and wondering what's the best approach. I'm leaning towards a sub 1:30 - so not a PB attempt, but a decent half at sub 3 marathon pace, before starting marathon training wouldn't be a bad thing now, would it? Although now I'm not that confident of even a sub 1:30 tbh. That's 2 results in a row now I'm not happy with - maybe my expectations were a bit too high though? It's no fun when it's no fun - you know what I mean?

Yerrah, this is all a bit longwinded really isn't it? It was my longest run since Dublin, I reacted badly to the heat and didn't have the strength to close out the last few miles. Next up the BHAA Pfizer 6 mile on the 9th of May. My "home" fixture, over a very familiar (but hilly) course. Lots of pride at stake here, so plenty of motivation to have a good run.

17.2 miles for the day, 43.8 for the week.

OOnegative · 24-04-2018 06:54AM

Strange one that, the change in temperature no doubt could have been a major factor. With the weather ye had back home over past 3-4 months any peak in temperatures is going to affect you. No more than you I struggle with it big time to.

hot buttered scones · 24-04-2018 07:50AM

OOnegative wrote:

Strange one that, the change in temperature no doubt could have been a major factor. With the weather ye had back home over past 3-4 months any peak in temperatures is going to affect you. No more than you I struggle with it big time to.

Yeah, I was only saying to one of the lads at work that I was still wearing a jacket some mornings only 2 or 3 weeks ago. Not training for that distance would explain a drop off towards the end of the race, but I'd expect to be able to stick the pace for longer than 4 miles on current training. It's not like it was as hot as London or anything, but it was my first run since maybe early September last year where my legs felt hot! That big yellow ball in the sky choose the wrong day to return.

AuldManKing · 24-04-2018 04:30PM

it reads like my Bohermeen experience. Just one of those days that you cant or shouldn't try to explain.
I was worried going into my next race - but I shouldn't have been, everything was grand, as it will be for you on your next race.

Kellygirl · 24-04-2018 05:30PM

Sorry it didn’t go so well for you HBS. It’s been much warmer than we are used to and that would affect your breathing a little too. Maybe it was something to do with that. Been a long cold wet winter and the very sudden change may not have helped you.

hot buttered scones · 24-04-2018 05:39PM

AuldManKing wrote:

it reads like my Bohermeen experience. Just one of those days that you cant or shouldn't try to explain. I was worried going into my next race - but I shouldn't have been, everything was grand, as it will be for you on your next race.

Cheers A. Your Bohermeen experience certainly came into my head alright - in a sort of a lightbulb "I see what he meant now" moment. Felt like I was driving a car with the handbrake on.

Still trying to figure it all out.

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