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"And why do we fall Bruce?"
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What a race report! It's really great to see the details behind that run, and what your thinking was at each point. I love that you had the fight to push for 3.15 (and actually end up quicker!). Unreal run and so well deserved.
It's going to be fun watching where you go from here
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Outstanding - very many congrats. There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing a runner learn from experience, change things and reap the reward. One tiny quibble - footpath running is cutting the course - a bit of a no-no, so there’s something at least to do better next time.
What a fantastic race, and a great report too. Well done sir! 0 -
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OOnegative wrote: »Jaysis I thought that was in every addition, wouldn’t have happened otherwise!!!!
Lovely!
:o:o:o 0 -
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Thought I better update this log and with a race report to boot!
Nothing too exciting to report training wise in the 5 weeks post Dublin Marathon. I just followed the P&D 5 week recovery plan which mainly consisted of recovery runs in the first few weeks and then onto some General Aerobic ones afterwards. I threw in a couple of HM pace miles on a couple of occasions just to try and keep a semblance of speed in the legs.
About a month or so before the marathon myself and a college friend had signed up for the Clontarf HM at the end of November. The plan was to meet up with some more college mates later in the day for pints and a night out so we wanted something other than a hangover to show for our efforts. Immediately after the marathon I was chomping at the bit for this race but a change in plan on behalf of some of the group meant that the night out idea was out the window so my motivation for this race was draining by the day. I should also add that my diet the 5 weeks pre and post the marathon couldn’t have been any different and I was almost eating for 2 the last while!
Early start last Saturday morning to have some porridge before hitting the road from home. Park up a few mins walk from the starting area and it’s a nice crisp morning along the promenade in Clontarf but as soon as I get out of the car I notice the wind, God I really hate running when it’s windy! Join the q to pick up my number and start panicking when I can’t find the email confirming my race number. I only got it earlier in the week but can’t find it in any of the folders. Its then I remember that it was sent as a text message. Change into my running gear, deciding to go with a t shirt instead of long sleeve version despite the cold believing in my own head that I’m well hard! I meet up with my mate and his wife who decide they are heading out with the 1 40 and 1 50 pacers respectively. On the spur of the moment I decide that with a 150 mile round trip for the race I might as well take a chance and go with the 1 30 pacer and try for a PB.
The starting area has markers for where the different pace categories shown line up but because the starting area is on the promenade footpath instead of a wide road it’s fairly packed. The footpath is only about 3 runners wide so a lot of people are starting on the outside of the grass verge. The starting gun goes and I’m funnelled onto the grass because of the numbers around me. 5 metres into it and I have full on face slammed the ground! My left foot had found a perfectly sized size 10 hole about a foot deep. No chance of correcting myself and I go straight down with barely time to get my hands out in front. At this point I’d love to fill a full eloquent paragraph of a movie type montage of me remembering some sage advice from a deceased grandparent about finding strength in the face of adversity! Instead through a mixture of shock and embarrassment I spring straight back up onto my feet hoping to avoid being stampeded by the pack of runners behind me and hoping to limit the number of people who have witnessed my moment of embarrassment. I do have a clear recollection though of uttering a phrase that rhymes with “Duck rake” and mentally noting the 2 lads laughing at me, ok Chuckle Brothers your time will come!
Into my stride and lucky enough everything feels fine (with the obvious exception of my pride!). The yellow pacing balloon had gone bounding ahead but this isn’t the time to go sprinting after him so I try and settle into things and find a comfortable pace. I find the first mile fairly tough mainly because I stupidly limited my warm up to just some stretching so I’m having to control my breathing and hope my heart rate soon settles. Things are still fairly manic along the path as a big group has decided to go with the 1 30 pacer. This mile beeps in at 6:58 and we continue along the promenade parallel to Clontarf road. We then turn right onto the wooden bridge heading for Dollymount Strand. We are onto a full width road now so the congestion eases up and I’m able to reel in the pacer a bit. This is the first stretch where we get the brunt of a head wind so everyone is jockeying for position to avoid taking the full brunt of it! The pacer is bang on the money though and I’m feeling a lot more comfortable overall now. Mile 2 beeps in at 6:48. Flooding of the main track down to the beach means we avoid running through the soft loose sand but continue onto a pedestrian track at the end of the roadway but it really narrows again being only 2 runners wide so a bottleneck ensues and I’m near the back so a nice gap from the pacing balloon again. We get off this track, bound down a small hill of loose sand and are onto Dollymount Strand. I up the pace here just to catch up to the pacer and position myself well to the left of the group of about 30 runners with him to try and avoid the wind coming in from the sea. One lad on the pacers left shoulder is getting full on pummelled by the pacer’s balloon but must have some zen like focus as he doesn’t seem to give it a second thought and doesn’t move out of the way once along the full length of the beach. I also notice that my mates the Chuckle Brothers are in the group! Mile 3 beeps in at 6:50. The rest of the run along the strand is fairly non-descript before we turn left onto Bull Island. Towards the end of the pedestrian track the first water station of the day is right beside the gate back onto the Causeway road. I’m towards the front of the pacing group at this stage and this results in the sliding doors moment of the race for me. While everyone around me including the pacer makes a bee line left or right for a bottle I ignore it and head straight on. I don’t want to slow or adjust my stride to wait for them so keep going thinking they would catch up shortly down the road. However coming in off the beach we now have the advantage of a tailwind so I decide to gamble and push on telling myself I would re-evaluate at the halfway point. Mile 4 beeps in at 6:49 so I’m a whole 3 seconds inside 1 30 pace!
I push on running down Causeway road using individual runners ahead of me to pace myself before catching them and moving onto the next target. We turn right onto James Larkin road at which point there are about 20 parents and kids cheering us! The wind is now working against me again, not a head wind but it’s coming in at a sideways angle strong enough to make it a bit uncomfortable. It a long slightly uphill run now to the halfway cone. Mile 5 still beeps in at 6:35 so I’m starting to feel more confident that sub 90 mins can be done even if I’m feeling every bit of junk food I’ve eaten in the past 5 weeks! I’ve now come up to a couple of lads that seem bang on my pace so I settle in with them and without verbally planning it we each take turns at the front making sure the pace is maintained. Mile 6 beeps in at 6:48. It’s around here that we meet the lead group of runners heading for home; they are absolutely gliding across the path seemingly effortless in comparison to Mr Clugger here!
Up and around the cone at halfway and as soon as we do it’s like someone turned off a loud static radio as the wind is now with us again! We lift the pace slightly again now that the elements and the gradient are in our favour and mile 7 comes in at 6:42. Also nice to see the distance gap we have on the 1 30 pacer as well as the Chuckle Brothers! Another water station along here but I again ignore it determined not to break my rhythm in case I can’t get going again! We get great support along this whole stretch from our fellow runners still on their outward journey. The only tricky thing along here is that we have use of only one side of the path which is also being used my pedestrians so we have to shimmy our way around a few people a couple of times. I’ve decided to push on again to use the elements so mile 8 comes in at 6:30 and I’m back flying solo again.
Turn left back onto Causeway road to be greeted by a full on head wind and this is definitely the toughest mile of the race. I can see other runners up ahead strung out along the road so use them individually to pace myself. The first one is a lad well over 6 foot who is obviously suffering from reduced aerodynamics in comparison to me! Nothing doing for this mile but just keeping the head down and getting through it. This mile beeps in at 6:40. Pass the water station where the guy in front of me misses the hand off. The lady tells him to keep going and that she will catch up but that was never going to happen. The guy beside him shares his- runners really are sound! Turn right back on Dollymount Strand and delighted to be out of the headwind. Bit dispiriting though to look ahead at almost 2 full miles of straight running! The field is really strung out now but it’s still nice to be able to track an individual, pass them and move onto the next target to help pass the distance. Mile 10 comes in at 6:39 and while I’m getting tired I still feel relatively comfortable, on my last race at this distance I remember really struggling at this juncture and having to dig deep but not so far today. Start speeding up a bit at after this just to get off this flipping beach. The little hill we came down earlier now feels like the travellator from Gladiators due to the soft sand but eventually I power up it and now have the long straight run back to Clontarf road. Really getting the benefit of a tailwind at this point so use it to try and push again and the mile beeps in at 6:34. I decide to go for broke now and use this tailwind to push on. This next mile feels great as I eat into big gaps to the runners ahead of me. Half the reason I’m going this quick though is just to get to the bloody end is my twisted mental logic, I just hope I haven’t gone too early. I pass the last runner in sight just before the wooden bridge but now I have about 300 metres in front of me where I’m the sole focus of the supporters at the corner so I better keep this pace up! Around the corner and now it’s the long trip for home along the promenade. Delighted to see this mile beep in at 6:11 even if it plays havoc with my mental maths of adding all these accumulated seconds under 6:52 pace!
Can I keep it going now for the last mile and a bit? Still a few runners ahead to pace myself against but I’m also sharing the footpath with pedestrians. No way I’m risking going onto the grass verge again so I have to shimmy a couple of times. More and more supporters along the path now as I get closer to home and one little girl makes me smile with her DCM clapper still in pristine condition. The 3 I have at home may have been maliciously accidentally broken!! Mile 13 beeps in at 6:17 and finally the finishing area is within sight. Manage to lift it for the final sprint and record a chip time of 1:26:56, just a second shy of a 5 minute PB. While I thought a sub 90 min was possible I pictured it being barely secured while hanging onto the pacer so I’m delighted with that time. Doing a sub 90 min HM was one of my initial goals for 2020 so nice to have that box ticked off already.
So now I have 5 weeks of keeping things ticking over before starting 12 week HM plan from Faster Road Racing for the Ros Run HM I’ve signed up for at the end of March.0 -
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Superb race and PB J, especially given the conditions and if I'm honest, I can't think of a less appealing sounding event!!
Also very disappointed that you just left us hanging re the Chuckle Brothers. Where did they finish? Did they finish? Did they have moustaches? Were they saying things like "to you", "to me"?
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Loved that report... I can't fathom how you remember so much detail! Seriously well ran though, smashing PB. Dying to see what you can do over 5/10k. I've done that ros HM, it was short when i did it, not quite 13m iirc but otherwise a good race decent route - one big hill and lots of downhill sections, good buzz at the race hq etc.Superb race and PB J, especially given the conditions and if I'm honest, I can't think of a less appealing sounding event!!
Also very disappointed that you just left us hanging re the Chuckle Brothers. Where did they finish? Did they finish? Did they have moustaches? Were they saying things like "to you", "to me"?
I might remember a lot of details E but can’t believe I forgot to give K closure on The Chuckle Brothers! Brother number 1 (let’s call him Barry!) came in before the 1 30 pacer while Chuckle Brother number 2 (let’s call him Paul!) was about 2 mins behind the pacer.
I also forgot to mention the guy myself and my friend seen finishing who was wearing a full novelty suit. He lost a bonus point though for wearing his runners instead of going full hog with a pair of slip on shoes.
Yeah E I did the Ros Run this year and my watch didn’t count it as a new PB, I was halfway between 13 miles and the HM official distance IIRC!0 -
I was expecting to read this race report where conditions and preparations were ideal and the race went exactly to plan. Instead, you weren't eating great, conditions were windy and you fell at the start. Yet you still managed to finish in 1.26.56 :eek::eek::eek:
Seriously well done J on the PB, really well deserved. You know what a 1.26.56 HM gives as a marathon prediction time right? No pressure 0 -
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