The wicked run when no one is chasing them

Murph_D wrote: »

Maybe the parkrun effort was just a tad too much after those two sessions? Good week anyway!

Yeah, that is a distinct possibility...it was as per the training plan, but, BUT, I did the repeats too fast which may well have impacted the recovery in time for Saturday morning. Rookie error at my advanced age :rolleyes:. Different plan ahead for this week anyway so with any luck attempt #2 will see me get around the course at least this time :o

denis b wrote: »

Congrats G on your new cycle pb. Well earned. I like the idea of the tuesday session. Will borrow that.

Thanks, D! The 2nd taper week worked out better than the first anyway :pac::pac:.

Singer wrote: »

Nicely done on the comeback PB in a busy week!

Cheers, yeah things have gone a bit mad in work so I think the busy-ness will be a feature for a while yet. I generally get my runs in though, it's the less important things like laundry and cleaning the house that suffer .

nop98 wrote: »

Nice job on the post-injury PB, BG, inspiring to see how dedication to a plan and goal can yield results (and kudos too to BG jr).

Devil units?

Thanks, Nop! Hoping to be back to the glory days of Jingle Bells '16 by the end of the year if I manage to stay injury free. Race ya again ?

I'll admit the devil units were useful on this occasion but the Garmin is now firmly back to traditional measurements.

ariana` wrote: »

Great news on the return to form BG!

Thank you very much, hope it lasts!

The Muppet wrote: »

thanks and apologies for late reply G , He struggled tbh , its all or nothing with him but he did enjoy IT.

It was nice seeing you and the other boardsies . Good you see you back running , hope all is good with you .

Glad he enjoyed it, that's what it's all about

Monday 7th

Easy run along the coast in Cascais, near Lisbon. Difficult enough to find places to run here as the main surface is (limestone ?) cobbles. More on those damn cobbles later in the week :rolleyes:. Today was just an out and back along a cycle path that follows the coastline. Was mainly used by runners and walkers but the cyclists didn’t seem to mind sharing.

• 4.5 miles (cycle track)

Tuesday 8th

Found a track of sorts in the local park which was about 350m. Nice sand and gravel surface so did an easy session so as not to suffer too much in the heat.
6 x 400m with 200m walk recoveries. Paces were very consistent (6:55, 6:51, 6:47, 6:49, 6:48, 6:45 min/mile)

• 5.3 miles total (sand, gravel, trail)

Wednesday 9th

Rest

Thursday 10th

Easy run. Loops of the small local park in Cascais which was undulating enough.

Hiked to Decathlon in the early evening, having completely missed the fact that there was a bus. After an hour’s trek uphill over the cobbles my feet were in bits. But I got some great bargains !

• 3.0 miles (trail)

Friday 11th

No running but plenty of hilly miles wandering around the hillside town of Sintra. Feet were in bits after yesterday’s hike.

Saturday 12th

Travelling.

Weather was a lot nicer than expected when we landed so (after unpacking, naturally ) I escaped for a loop of St.Anne’s. So nice to run on soft grass !!

• 3.8 miles (grass, trail, tarmac)

Sunday 13th

Signed up for the Born2Run Dublin 5k series a while back when I was still struggling with fitness and returning to running. I thought some scenic off-road races would be a good motivator and being off-road there’d be no chasing PBs to put pressure on. The series is pricey, but their motto is ‘great races in great places’ and today’s was no exception. Venue was Newbridge House, Donabate, which looked stunning in the sun. There was a choice of 5k or 10k. I’d opted for the 5k and there was only 60-70 doing it, with the vast majority – a few hundred I’d guess - doing the 10k. The 10k runners went off first and we were to start 12 mins later. It was all very relaxed with Bruce Springsteen (of course :cool:) blasting from the speakers. We went off on schedule. I hadn’t much of a plan. I thought I’d set off at a tempo-ish pace and see how things went. One girl had shot off into the distance never to be seen again until topping the podium and there were about 4 other women ahead of me in the early stages. After passing a couple out at a fairly comfortable pace, I found myself just behind the 3rd placed female. Passed her out and started wondering if I could catch second. Well, it’d be rude not to try . I caught up by around 2K (although the distance markers were fairly random, there was another 2K sign further on :rolleyes:) and tucked in behind a male runner who was just behind her. Still felt fine at this point, although the pace was nothing to write home about so I should have been feeling fine . The course was a mix of tarmac, trail and grass, reasonably flat with a few bumps. Felt the pace slowing so passed both of them out, hoping neither of them would chase me down! Ran the rest of the race solo and the next (male) runner ahead was a good bit away. The last mile was tough and seemed never ending. I only wanted to run as fast as I needed to by that point to hold my position. Route markers were a bit confusing at one point. Finally came in sight of the finish and was almost caught at the line by the 10K winner (in fairness he’d had a headstart of 12 minutes but still ! I was 2nd F in an unspectacular time (about 4 mins behind the winner I think ).

A good morning’s work all the same with a generous voucher as a prize and a free race entry. Also a medal which I have no interest in but a lot of people going mad for them.

• 4.5 miles total incl. 5K race (tarmac, grass, trail)

TOTAL WEEKLY MILES: 21.1

Wubble Wubble wrote: »

Welcome back, glad you enjoyed sunny Portugal. Unfortunately I didn't pack the runners when I visited Cascais, so I can't compare

Congrats on the prize, Nop is not the only one worrying about the ongoing BG resurgence. Loving the random signage in this one :pac:

Cascais is super but not a lot of cobble-free places to run unfortunately. There was a long promenade from there to Estoril but it looked to be a rock hard stone
surface so I wasn't risking my dodgy back on it.

The signage was hilariously random. Towards the end there was an arrow pointing to the right and a 5K sign (no where near the finish) but it was clear that everyone ahead of me was following the more direct route across the grass. I ended up taking the longer route in case they were trying to separate the 5K from the 10K at that point (no marshals there) but I think everyone behind me took the more direct route . Still no idea who was right !

Monday 21st

Half a gym session (2 sets of everything) and just about squeezed in a short run

• 2.5 miles (path, tarmac)

Tuesday 22nd

5 x 1k @ target 5k pace, 90 secs recovery.
A couple of miles to warm up, drills and strides. Silenced the voices in my head telling me I didn’t have to do the session. No one would know – or care – if I bailed. Then said I’d do the first rep and see how that went. And so it continued until all 5 reps were done. Totally nailed it ! Target pace was 7:05 min/mile and reps were (7:03, 6:58, 6:56, 7:01, 7:02 min/mile). Short cool down to finish. Well pleased with myself.

• 6.4 miles total (tarmac)

Wednesday 23rd

Pilates class. I was rubbish having missed the last 2 weeks. Easy run there and back.

• 3.3 miles (path)

Thursday 24th

First tempo of the plan. 4 miles on the schedule but it’s an advanced plan so I’m making modifications so I don't kill myself, and so this became 3 miles. Estimated tempo (1 hour) pace is 7:45 min/mile. Did the tempo section on grass along the promenade and the first half was into the wind. Tough but manageable, with the return leg a bit easier thanks to the tail wind. Average pace for the tempo section was….7:45 min/mile :cool:.

• 5.0 miles (incl. 3 miles tempo) path, grass

Friday 25th

REST

Saturday 26th

Pacer day at parkrun. I paced 27 mins, coming in at 26:53 official time.

• 3.5 miles total (tarmac)

Sunday 27th

Last race in the Born2Run series. OH and BG Jr decided to forego a leisurely morning playing computer games to be my cheerleading squad. No pressure then :eek:. Headed to Malahide and had enough time for a decent warm up and a couple of bathroom breaks . As with the previous events the 10K runners set off first and we were to set off about 15 minutes later. The winner from last week was there as well as a few in club vests who I didn’t recognise from the previous races. We were told before the gun that the course was 200m long. I knew the Garmin doesn’t really work in Malahide Demesne anyway so was planning to ignore the watch regardless. A bit of Bruce on the loudspeakers and we were off. Massive roar from a very excited BG Jr made me lol. Found myself in 3rd behind last week’s winner and a girl in a club vest. Kept expecting to be passed and said I’d put up a fight for a podium spot if it came to it. The course was a bit of an unknown, even though I’m familiar with the parkrun this was taking in the other side of the park as well and I wasn’t really sure what was around the next corner. And there were lots of corners! The Km markers were just as random as before. Nothing for 1Km, 2Km and 3Km quite close together and can’t remember anything about 4Km :rolleyes:. Realised that I was gaining on the 2nd F but at this point we had merged with the 10K runners and it was a lot more crowded. Did a bit of weaving through the 10k and managed to overtake 2nd F. Happy to try to hang on for 2nd at that point. I could see first ahead but as with the previous race I could only maintain the gap rather than make up any ground. It was lovely to run through the wooded trails and was enjoying the run even if it was starting to get tough. The watch beeped for 3 miles with no sign of the finish. I was feeling ok and 1st F was starting to slow. Caught up to her and made the decision to go for it and run like heck. If the race was 5K she’d have won for sure but the extra half Km (200m, sure :rolleyes::rolleyes:) worked in my favour. Just after I’d passed her and was pumping my arms like crazy a woman appeared on the path right in front of me with – of course – a dog and I had to do a quick detour on to the grass to avoid a collision. I wouldn’t mind but the owner could see me coming towards her, just wasn’t budging :rolleyes:. Anyway ran like the clappers, past a delighted BG Jr who told me I’d won. Took a while to get my breath back after that ! Couple of miles to cool down and back just in time for the prizegiving. A good morning’s work. Have to say I loved this series. The organisation is second to none and the atmosphere is super. Reminds me of the (now defunct) Urban Trail series. Much more enjoyable than road racing and not as tough as XC.

Local community games followed in the afternoon, with BG Jr very close to making it out of her heat but just missed out. She was only there for the free Tayto anyway and was delighted with herself .

• 7.4 miles total (grass, trail, tarmac)

TOTAL WEEKLY MILES : 28.1