Chapter 2 - Finding Nemo

Thanks everyone. You're all far too kind.

AMK I'm just piling the pressure on HBS for Charleville. He made a promise we'd work together.

Anne I'll have to get one of them meditation tapes for sure. Who knows they may even make herself sleep. Haha.

HBS it'll be a while before I touch the marathon. Definitely not this year for sure but eventually yes. So I've a while before I'm a true badass lunatic.

Chickey I've learned the hard way in Adare. One line of the song just repeated over and over and over again. *Shudder*

skyblue46 wrote:

Absolutely fantastic, both the race report and the result! Long may your star continue to rise and your enthusiasm with it. Your training has been amazingly consistent ( I can't get over how many easy runs you hit 8:04 bang on) and well executed. Enjoy the rewards you're reaping :-)

Haha cheers S. To be honest everyone's enthusiasm and drive on this forum is contagious. It really drives me on.
I've often wondered about those easy runs. The fact theyre all so consistent makes me ask myself if I'm truly running them easy or defaulting into that pace regardless. Of late some of them have slowed down a bit which is good. Mostly due to the fact coach has kicked my ass with some of the sessions so I've had no choice. Haha

A very easy week to log. Easy 40mins x 5 days. Wanted to run Monday but time didn't allow.

This was my first down week since coach started kicking my ass last November. 25 weeks of consistent training. Two runs missed in that time. One abandoned session due to illness and one missed run due to snow. Pretty happy with that consistency.

In or around 50 miles per week apart from race weeks. Can't remember how many races in that time. Seven I think. All pbs believe it or not although technically I had never run a 5M or 10M but it still counts right?! I'll give a full review at the end of the year but after 25 weeks I'm very happy with how far I've come.

Only few things of note this week were baby sleeping better and we're back in Kerry most weekends now so weekend runs will have a refreshing new location to enjoy. I didn't know myself after a full night's sleep. It showed in the easy run the next day. I just felt like a different man. More of those nights please.

Entering a 5k block now and running in Shanagolden in two weeks. Won't have much 5k stuff done for it but it was one race I asked coach if I could run. It'll at least act as a marker for where I'm at starting this block. Struggling to find target races in my neck of the woods in June timeframe. Would love to run at the Irish 5k pbs but it's in the middle of my holidays. But we'll see. Nothing decided yet. Looking forward to getting back into some sessions. I've had my downweek now roll on the next phase.

Very positive about the week just gone.

Monday - 6M at 8.04/mile. As is often the case I remember I ran but not much else.

Tuesday - Session time. When I first saw the email from coach I was very happy (in a weird sadistic kind of way). Sessions looked sharp and pacey.
Tuesdays prescribed session was 3x(4x90s) at 5.30 pace Off 90s/75s/60s. Belter! Did the usual 2 mile warmup loop around the industrial estate. Definitely noticed a rise in temp this week. Took a couple for me to settle into the right pace and as often happens I hit the first few a little too quick. Generally these felt 'good'. I'm focusing a lot more on my form these days especially after seeing the waddle at the end of GLR. Haha. I have noticed by body tends to want to swing a bit when it tires. More on that later.
By the third set I was definitely feeling these but wasn't flat out. Splits were;
5.14 / 5.20 / 5.24 / 5.29 / 5.29 / 5.25 /5.32 / 5.26 /5.28 /5.31 /5.26 /5.24
Love the fast paced stuff and felt a million quid later in the day.
Total miles for the session: 8.2 miles

Wednesday and Thursday - Easy 7M
Really enjoyed these runs and felt good. Legs fine from the session. Both at 8.15 pace. I had to travel to Ashbourne with work. On the plus side I had a hotel room to myself with no waking baby (in theory sounds great but missed the family a lot). On the other side because of this I had a good deep sleep with alarm set for 6.30am each morning for the run and woke both mornings thinking I must be mad. Been complaining about lack of sleep and here I am setting a 6.30am alarm. But there's no way I'm missing the runs so suck it up and get out there. Thursday in particular was lovely. A beautiful morning.

Friday - Session day again. 6x800m Off 90s at 5.45 pace.
On paper I saw this and thought that'll be no bother. How wrong I was.
I had planned on doing some drills to improve the running form (sent by coach) but time was limited so these will start next week. Usual warmup.
I love it when a session surprises you (maybe it shouldn't have but for some reason I though 800m doesn't look like much right?). I knew after the first one that this wasn't gonna be the breeze I thought it would. Not struggling but for sure there was a bit of effort there. I settled into the session to be honest. Worked a bit for the last two. The heat definitely makes a difference too but I'm not gonna complain. We had enough snow and cold weather. Give me some tough sessions in the heat any day. Splits were;

5.47 / 5.43 / 5.39 / 5.41 / 5.39 / 5.49

Pretty happy with that. Hard to nail these perfectly but that's pretty good.
Total mileage for the session: 7.2 miles.

Saturday - 12 miles around Kerry head. What a gorgeous run. Extremely hilly in places so I'm not sure how smart a route it is for an easy long run but it was spectacular and I felt so good during it. Beauty all around. Sun shining. As good as it gets. Anyone following me on Strava should take a look at the elevation profile. Ridiculous.

Total miles for the week: 47.5 miles.

A great week and very happy. This 5k stuff is fun. Baby is going through sleep training in her own room so that has been fun. In fairness she's getting better so hopefully we'll have longer stretches of sleep at night. And that should make a difference. I've definitely noticed a difference in my running when I get good sleep.

Next Sunday I have Shanagolden 5k. Will be interesting to see where I'm at. I'm hearing it takes a few 5ks to get it right so this will also act as a good practice race.

Cheers lad. Something definitely clicked in the last few months. I think Adare was a bit of a turning point. Took a few races for me to get a bit of confidence. Ennis really turned things. Hopefully the progress can continue.

diego_b wrote:

Will you fit the Half on the Head in down there (Jun 16th) and for sure the route takes no prisoners! I’m running it but two weeks after Cork I’ll be doing it as a training run.

I'm actually doing the 10k. It fits in better with my 5k training at the moment. Next half will be Charleville.

Shanagolden 5k Race Report

Where to begin..... I didn't execute the Davey D Method as planned anyway. This is a tricky one to judge. I'll start at the beginning.

The week had gone pretty well. I guess one of the key things here (based on inputs from my much more knowledgeable coach) was I had come off a block of training geared towards Tuamgraney 10M and Limerick half, followed by a downweek and then a couple of weeks of 5k specifics. Getting the excuses in early. Haha. If I'm honest, going into this I had Barefield from January in mind where I thought I was in 17.45 shape. I ran a pb of 18.04 there and was a little disappointed I think. So given the work behind me I figured I must be in better shape than then. The great thing about this sport is it teaches you manners as soon as you start getting ahead of yourself.

I had been pretty inspired by D's run in Tallaght to be honest. A 100% flat out balls to the wall honest run. Shur it's only 5k right? How hard can it be? Lol. I'll give it a go.

Woke up at 5am a little wired. Was more nervous than I have been in a while before a race. Had the usual breakfast and chilled around the house. Got baba ready and we hit the road. Landed in Shanagolden around 12.15. Drove the 2.5k finish on the way in. Not the worst. A little drag for 1k but by no means awful. Got there and met my buddy from limerick country club. I've been helping him with his training lately and he was gunning for sub 20. As usual gave the missus and baba a kiss and headed out the road for a warmup and some strides. Felt good. No complaints. Still a little tense. Headed to the start line and had a look around. Saw the top three straight away haha. Sean Doyle, Colm Turner and another lad from Ennis track. Serious runners. They're no use to me I thought. Haha. Sussed out the two lads in front of me. They were chatting away. One of them a young fella going for 16ish. No good to me. The other lad from An Brú, we'll call Bruffman, hoping to dip under 17. Hmmmm I thought. We had our countdown and off we went. First 200m was a massive downhill so no choice but to belt on. It always amazes me how unbelievably quick some people take off and just flag completely after less that 1k. I was in a little group with Bruffman but we quickly left them behind and joined the group ahead. I had planned on ignoring the watch completely for the entire race but to be honest I checked it a few times in the first 2k. It's weird. The uncertainty of my pace was a feeling I haven't felt in a while especially given how small margins count in the 5k I was extra conscious. Wanted to run on feel. I didn't really execute that well.

The first km clocked at 3.23 (5.28min/mile pace). Nice! Was happy with that but knew the downhill helped.

So here's where I get really honest. Was I flagging at this stage? No. I stayed with our little group hoping to work together. In hindsight part of me thinks I played it a tiny bit safe. I was reasonably comfortable in the group. Even after 2km which clocked at 3.29 (5.37min/mile pace) I wasn't hurting bad. However I was fearful of the latter stages. If I push on now will I die a death. If I push on now I'm on my own. I decided to stay with the group which was a tad on the safe side. I'm not sure what this cost me in the end or maybe it was the right choice but that's what I did. By 3km me and Bruffman had left the group and were on our own. I had stopped looking at the watch by now as I was hurting. It felt like we were going at a steady clip but wasnt sure. Didn't want to look at the watch for pace.
3km clocked at 3.32 (5.42min/mile pace).

I should mention at around 2.6k theres a 180 degree turn at a cone and you head straight back from the direction we came. That turn was my only complaint. It takes the steam out of you a bit.

Bruffman was still working with me but we were both puffing hard. 4km clocked at 3.33 (5.43min/mile pace). And we were hanging in there. The lad in front of us was going backwards a bit but still a big gap. Was really struggling by now but knew not long to go. Saw the sign for Shanagolden so knew we were almost there. Bruffman had gone backwards and I was clear.
Awful feeling at this stage. Painful. Horrible. Haha. 5ks are a b*tch.
Saw my missus cheering as I entered the village and turned left for the finish line. Saw 17.41 as I crossed the line. I'll be honest it felt like I had put a lot more into the race than that time. Part of the problem is after limerick half and seeing such a huge chunk off the pb you forget that it's fine margins with the 5k. Either way it was still a 23sec pb. By any standards that's a big PB. I'll take it for sure! I just don't think I ran the best race I could have but that will come. I need some fine tuning at the 5k distance so I'm optimistic and encouraged by today. Really nice to run in a race with some of the quicker lads. Some ridiculous times posted. Winner was 15.24 I think. Finished 6th which I'm very happy with.

On an ultra positive note my buddy ran 19.54 and he was delighted. So was I. Highlight of my day to be honest.

So there you have it. The 5k is a tricky f*cker. I love it when a race teaches you some manners. The organization today was excellent. Fantastic spread after and a massage! Really good race with quality runners.

Great encouragement from coach after. Can't wait for the next few months. I love this horrible distance.

skyblue46 wrote:

I love reading about the decisions you have to make in relation to other runners, groups, going it alone. It's so different from where I run amongst a maelstrom of bodies! You race, I do a time trial surrounded by many!

It'll come in time. I have no doubt you'll continue to take chunks off your times and by default end up making those decisions. My buddy has started to notice it a bit more with having people to work off. I can't honestly say I raced Bruffman. If he had anything left in him at the end I was done. Haha. But yeah those decisions mid race are something coach said to me day one and he was right. Only racing replicates those decisions and you learn as you go. A right decision one day can be a wrong decision another day. I think I was a little unlucky today that there wasn't anyone within touching distance to force me to push on.

skyblue46 wrote:

Ah don't be so hard on yourself....that's a super chunk to take off your PB. I think you're just hurting over 3 seconds

Haha I didn't realise til he said it. That made it hurt all that much more. Well he's about to go out and whoop my 5 mile time this week so game on. Haha

Duanington wrote:

Well done, P - that's a very strong PB to post at this stage in the game, you're getting faster and stronger with each race and as you rightly point out, the margins are pretty tight over 5k, more to come

ariana` wrote:

Brilliant report. Congrats on the PB. Love the rivalry too, nothing like a bit of friendly competition to keep things interesting

hot buttered scones wrote:

Well done and congrats on the PB.

Duanington wrote:

Well done, P - that's a very strong PB to post at this stage in the game, you're getting faster and stronger with each race and as you rightly point out, the margins are pretty tight over 5k, more to come

ariana` wrote:

Brilliant report. Congrats on the PB. Love the rivalry too, nothing like a bit of friendly competition to keep things interesting

hot buttered scones wrote:

Well done and congrats on the PB.

Cheers man. Hope you're on the mend.

Duanington wrote:

Well done, P - that's a very strong PB to post at this stage in the game, you're getting faster and stronger with each race and as you rightly point out, the margins are pretty tight over 5k, more to come

Thanks D. Dunno how you did it man. Haha. It shall remain a mystery. I'll have another go after some fine tuning.

ariana` wrote:

Brilliant report. Congrats on the PB. Love the rivalry too, nothing like a bit of friendly competition to keep things interesting

Cheers Ariana. Ah he's much older than me so overall he's performing better, for his age category.