Leader Of The (Mid) Pack

Bluesquare wrote: »

Great post - inspired me to come of the closet with regard to making my strava feeds public again . I just didn’t want to deal with the permanently outraged and the judgey judges . But sod them . Thanks

You're right R helping each other out in adversity is important!

Glad I could be of some assistance If they reduce it to 1k radius, I've still got the Carpenterstown loop and Tír na nÓg (Porterstown's kind of borderline)

Thanks all, still healthy, still running every day (within my 2k radius) - currently the active streak stands at 20.

Having noted some of the gang on here and elsewhere doing a few sessions, I decided I might do the same. Hence, last Friday (April 3) I tried one of the easier ones which we would have regularly run in Porterstown. (400 on/400 off) x 5, + WU/CD. Easier with a group of similar standard at 7 in the evening, that is. 7 in the morning on my own, a bit different. Gasping before I'd even done the second fast lap :eek:

The next day, the organisers of the Castleknock 5k, scheduled for June 14, made the only sensible decision they could make, and announced the cancellation of this year's race. Instead, they suggested that intending participants run a virtual 2k, and donate to St Francis Hospice. This morning I headed back to the Porterstown grass track to have a go. I knew I wouldn't be anywhere near Seán Hehir's 6:02 :pac: but I'd be happy with anything around 8 minutes.

My first warmup lap had to be abandoned less than halfway through, as an overly friendly greyhound bounded over to me. Try as he might, his owner couldn't get him back on the lead for ages, even with another dog having arrived in the meantime. I had to stand still while all this was going on, set to go somewhere else when I got the chance. However, my wife was laughing her head off on the far side of the track, so let's be grateful for what we have, wha? At least it wasn't like Inishbofin, where over the years I've had several angry dogs (and an angry seagull!) chasing me.

Eventually, with the dog out of sight, I got a few warmup laps, stretches and strides done. Not really having a clue how to pace this without anyone to run with, the far too quick first lap, and second to a lesser extent, sealed my fate. The rest of it was a battle of wills just to keep going. Sure if I stop now, only the two of us will know. We can come back and try again (possible extension of lockdown restrictions notwithstanding). Ok then, "only" five laps altogether. Completed it, in a time of 8:01, on what might be a slightly long course (apart from its hilly profile!) but not to worry. Hoping we can keep ourselves active in the outdoors, in spite of a clear narrative aimed at having the sub human scum that are runners and "joggers" (so the cranks would have you believe) forced inside. Stay positive. Stay safe. Happy Easter to you and yours. Thanks for reading. J.

Morning all !

Yeah, still keeping the show on the road here. Easter came and went without a break in activity, and I'm now up to 27 consecutive days getting out for a few (mostly) easy miles early in the morning. Just the one Easter egg, and apart from a blowout on Friday, alcohol consumption was at responsible levels. Contrary to the myth that seems to be out there, not all of us can sit drinking beer all day just because we're working from home :pac:

Particularly as I've been staying within the 2k radius, most of the runs aren't that interesting - the minutiae are available via Strava. Having the Phoenix Park quite close, but all outside 2k (White's Gate is just under 3k from the house ATCF), is proving to be a right pain.
I did however try another session this morning, on the grass track in Porterstown. This was a new one for me - I've done pyramid sessions before, but not this exact one. After a 1.5 mile warmup, I started into it. 200/400/600/800/600/400/200, with 200 metre jog recoveries. Doesn't read too badly, does it? :pac: Short recoveries, and lack of consistency in the pacing, meant the downward side of the pyramid was especially hard. Of course the track was its usual hilly and windy self Anyway, it's in the bag, good, bad or indifferent.

Looking at the lineup for next week's 5k TT, it seems to be my misfortune to be in what will be the most keenly contested age category of the lot (M45). Even a sub-60 10 miler (AMK) may struggle against the likes of Krusty and ultrapercy - both long time Boards stalwarts, and fine runners too, coming out of posting semi retirement just for this it seems! As for me, looking at projected times I could be a poor last in my category, and among the tailenders overall. But it's nice to have something like this to try out, with the resumption of real live racing looking less and less likely to happen even in 2020. Venue will probably be a virtual Porterstown parkrun. Pros: I know the course probably better than anyone here. Cons: It's not one of the faster parkruns. Plenty of walkers and dogs, even early in the morning, so potentially a lot of bobbing and weaving. Still it's probably a better fit for this exercise than the approx. 3k Carpenterstown loop, or the half mile Tír na nÓg. Both of these tend to fill up with walkers (and other runners) quite quickly. Sure I'm probably overthinking it :pac: Stay positive. Stay safe. Thanks for reading. J.

Sat 25/4 - Boards A/R Virtual 5k TT, Porterstown Park

Since my last update here, I managed to extend my running streak to 31 days (March 22 to April 21 inclusive). Trouble was, I was finding it ever more difficult to keep this going. It got to a point where before, during, and after my run on Tuesday (21st) I felt like I'd drank two bottles of wine (at least!) the night before. Very ugly looking, no matter how you might try to sugarcoat it.

I decided some things were more important than getting out of bed to run early every day (proving also that I do listen to some of you here - eyrie and ReeReeG in this instance). Two days off improved my fitness, sharpness, and general energy levels, and a relaxed Friday shakeout in Tír na nÓg completed my prep for the most eagerly awaited event on Boards for many months.

Up nice and early this morning, bright and sunny, no wind. No alcohol since last Sunday for me, although unfortunately I can't say the same regarding sweets and chocolate. On went the visor and the old racing runners (no Cheaterflys here) for a warmup and shuffle around a lap of Porterstown Park. One or two dog walkers around, but none of them would impede my (lack of?) progress in any way.
It felt really weird gearing up at the start line all alone for a virtual parkrun, but this is what I chose, so let's go!

Lap 1

Hard down to the first right hander, through the trees and into the large field with the two GAA pitches. I'm feeling the pace already but decide to just see can I hold it for the first kilometre and take it from there. Downhill to the lowest point on the course, along the back of the pitches and up the first drag back up. Through the first km in 3:47. Hmm. Considering my best time here is 20:36, maybe I can crack that this morning? Through the first mile in 6:23, which is sub 20 pace. Very sore already. Still two laps to go.

Lap 2

Between having run the first km (not to mention the first lap) too fast, and struggling to adapt to racing hard alone, my pace slowed significantly. Even trying to visualise various opponents wasn't working, as in my mind they were leaving me for dust. I actually dipped below 8 min mile pace very briefly along the drag past Castleknock Celtic/Anatomic Fitness back up to the car park. 6:47 for the second mile. Oooooffff. One more!

Lap 3

I tried a bit of a spurt down the hill and along the bottom of the park, but the drags back up soon took the remaining wind from my sails. Finish it out at least. Of course there was nobody to chase, and nobody chasing me, which reduced my motivation to sprint it out. I think I may have gone a tiny bit past the parkrun finish. Not to worry.

Time: 21:11
This was for 3.15 miles according to Strava, which gave me a 5k time of 20:45. Go figure. My prediction was 21:30, so actually better than I expected given my current level of fitness.

Position: TBC
Category: TBC (M45), but overall will be towards the tail end of M45 in particular.

I thought I might have the consolation of being first up, best dressed, and having set the (very low!) bar for those following. Turns out Lambay Island beat me to it and in fact, I didn't even have the best time in Porterstown for long.
As I was leaving, I saw another lad running in. Turns out he's in this as well, and ran the parkrun course in 19:45.

Thanks so much to OOnegative for organising this. Great to have so many out running it. Delighted that I could be one of them. Donation made.

Future

The only race that I'm currently signed up to is the Connemara Half, rescheduled for September 27. 22 weeks from now - I've done the maths so you don't have to :pac:
I'm going to throw this one out to the floor. I'm considering, in four weeks time, restarting the 18 week training plan by John O'Regan that I had been following before having to defer my 2019 entry to this year. If (when?) the race gets put back again, at least I'll have a decent level of fitness built up for other races that might catch my eye in the meantime.
Thoughts?
Thanks for reading. Look after yourselves. Stay positive. J.

May 1-8

Mostly easy stuff for me so far this month. Last Saturday I tried an old Santry session, with the grass track in Porterstown again the venue. 200m jog, then straight into 600m @3k pace - six of those. Good bit of huffin and puffin at about 8 AM, but at least I finished this session - times roughly in the 2:20-2:25 range.

Otherwise, the Phoenix Park is back on my running radar. On Tuesday morning, I got there early for a lap of the western half. The (Ratra?) road from the Turnstile corner of the grass triangle by the Hole In The Wall, through the roundabout, and down Acres Road to Chapelizod Gate, is for all intents and purposes the outer edge of my 5k radius. A beautiful sunny morning to be able to do it. When I was leaving, at about 7:20, the hordes were already coming down the hill towards White's Gate

Looking forward to the mile TT on the 30th. That said, I'm far from confident of cracking 6 minutes for a mile around the Porterstown grass track, particularly if it's a wet day. I might need to either :-
(a) wait a bit later than 6:40 AM for my body to wake up,
(b) run a lap of the parkrun course, or
(c) do an AMK on it, and have two or three bites at the cherry :pac:

Health wise we're good here, although there's been the odd sleepless night or two. It's hard to switch off sometimes, although I've had that problem since long before Covid-19 arrived on the scene.

One thing a few of the work gang have organised lately is what I like to call "Pandemic Poker" - private games online, linked up via PokerStars and Webex.

I've also been enjoying some more Netflix stuff, having finished Season 5 of Better Call Saul, and I've watched all six episodes to date of "The Last Dance" - very interesting, especially as I still remember watching a lot of those Bulls finals games live in the middle of the night. I also found out today that Jim Gavin got a lot of ideas from coach Phil Jackson. He never had to deal with anyone like Dennis Rodman though

Going forward, it's no surprise that the Irish Runner race series has been canned. I expect DCM 2020 to go the same way, irrespective of how fast or slow our lifting of restrictions turns out to be. FWIW (speaking as someone not medically qualified) our strategy seems from here to be very conservative, certainly when compared to many others in Europe. But who is right and who is wrong? Nobody can say for certain at this stage. Lots of changes (some temporary, some permanent) on the way in relation to traffic in and around Dublin city centre btw.
As regards races in general, I'm not expecting anything soon, even if the restrictions are lifted ahead of schedule. Connemara would be a bonus - I might run a virtual HM in the Phoeno on the day instead, if I can keep the training going.

Somebody asked a question on one of the other threads here, along the lines of "If races started again tomorrow, would you take part?"
Much as I miss them, for the foreseeable I would have to say no (at risk wife). Yes, I ran the Carlingford HM, but at that time there were I think about 10 confirmed cases in Ireland (North and South combined) so in my mind there was a lot less risk involved, but I was still mindful of it.
Probably I'm better off not thinking too much about what's going on everywhere else, and just concentrating on the here and now. Sun is shining. Weekend is here! Thanks for reading. J.