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Are those my feet?

Mr. Guappa

So here goes, another DCM novice graduate :cool: setting up a log:

I'm male, mid-thirties with no sporting background since my school days. I'm blessed to be a father of two, and it was their arrival that finally motivated me to get up off the couch a few years ago. Running was my chosen activity, and after a couple of false downs, I finally stuck with it and I've now been running regularly since May 2017. Up until this summer, running regularly meant 2-3 times a week, with weekly totals being 10-12 miles. With the help of the DCM Novices thread I followed the Boards plan and completed DCM last weekend.

DCM 18 race report is here
The short version is that I loved it, despite struggling for a few miles towards the end.

I've already signed up for DCM next year, with the aim of going sub 4. Before that though, over the next 6-8 months I'd like to concentrate on the shorter stuff. I've been reading last years grads thread, and I'm excited by what lies in store over the coming months.

I'm creating this log to chart my progress. I've made a lot of progress over the past 12 months, but it's hard to quantify from memory alone. Hopefully this log will help me track my next 12 months, and beyond.

PB's:
5k | 23:18 | Feb '18
10k | 48:29 | Mar '18
10 mile | 1:23:17 | May '18
HM | 1:54:00 | Oct '18
Marathon | 4:13:21 | Oct '18

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Mr. Guappa

Thanks R. I've been following the mileage as prescribed in the plan, but I've been doing some tweaking myself to the runs. Not too much tweaking, although you do remind me to get some strides in this week... I've let those slide the last few weeks.

Bluesquare

I was following a tweaked version of your plan for my half marathon . Tweaked as in less mileage . I did 8k LT/hmp. When we started the plan 5:10 was LT or even 10k pace ( I was starting from a low level of fitness) but by the time we got to the 8k it was hmp if that makes sense . My tweaking wasn’t top class to be fair as had changed time to kms and over shot . The 8k I did twice in horrible wind . Those sessions increased by running confidence tenfold - I knew after them my tenk pb would take a battering . I need that long tempo type run for my head I think .

The progression long runs with the LT finish were harder than my actual half race and I sure channelled them at the end . Maybe one day I’ll do the plan in all its glory ! Dying to see the results you get from it !

Mr. Guappa

13th - 19th March

Monday - Rest

Tuesday - 7.21 miles easy (9:25/mi). Just about enough light after finishing work to get out for this. Really looking forward to the longer evenings. Loved this run - pretty undulating so I tried to keep the HR in the 130's most of the way, or not let it stray too high on the hillier sections. Worked a treat and I felt great throughout.

Wednesday - 4.23 miles recovery (9:59/mi). Lunchtime trot around UL. The whole place was pretty soggy, so I stayed away from my usual pitch and surrounding gravel paths and plodded around the outskirts of the campus instead. What looked a nasty, horrible day from the comfort of the office chair was actually pretty reasonable when out in it.

Thursday - LT session: 20 mins on / 4 mins off / 16 mins on. I've a long list of ~~excuses~~ mitigating factors, but this was tough! Started off with a 1.6 mile warm-up. Halfway through the warm-up I changed my route - it was fairly windy and I knew that my planned route along the old N8 would definitely be windy, so switched to the Swiss Cottage riverside path which might be more sheltered. Once again I'd forgotten to start the session on my watch, so just continued on with the run I'd started. Stuck my rain jacket in a nearby bush, did a couple of lacklustre strides and it was time for work. The path was pretty windy, so not sure I got much value for changing the route. Target pace was in or around 7:00 min/miles, but from the off I was getting nowhere near that. Tree cover had me wondering at times, but the avergae pace stayed up there - the effort felt right (or even too much) so I just accepted 7:20 as the benchmark for today and went with that. Paces for the first 20 mins came in at 7:18, 7:21 and 7:06 (0.76 mi). I'd turned for the last bit and the pace increase reflects that the wind was helping there. More of the same in the second rep, 16 minutes this time - 7:18 and 7:18 for the first 2 miles, and 7:16 for the 0.19. The last minutes were so tough, and really just hanging on. At the time I thought I'd actually bailed on the last 2 minutes and cut the rep to 14 minutes (I was spent, couldn't do the mental maths, thought I'd only completed 14 mins and didn't have another 2 mins in me). My head was so frazzled. It's only now when I come to write this and check out the splits that I see I actually completed the 16 minutes! So that's a nice boost to get of a Monday morning - I actually completed a run I thought I'd quit on! Definitely need to start remembering to use the workout function on the watch! Either way, this was a very tough run - I'd overdressed again with a long-sleeved base layer which didn't help, and I wore the Gliderides which are more suited to moderate paced runs I find. 8.54 miles in the end after a 1.6 mile cool-down trudge.

Friday - 6.65 miles recovery (10:06/mi). An early morning trot around with the local running group. Nice to run with some company for a change and the miles ticked along quickly. Most of them run too fast for their own good, so I just hung out towards the back of the pack and settled in at a nice pace with a mini-group.

Saturday - 3.65 miles recovery (10:55/mi). Funny how you can live and run somewhere for years and still find new places to explore. Checked out a nice loop in the wooded area at the end of the Swiss path. It's probably only half a mile, but a nicely worn path through the wood, full of roots and uneven surfaces, but not too muddy given the weather. Paces could have been anything, given the tree cover, but effort was very easy, save for bit of climbing to get to the wooded loop.

Sunday - 13.3 miles endurance (8:48/mi). Another run that took me on some lesser and never-travelled roads. As the LR distances go up, it's nice to be able to vary the routes and explore a little. This was a hillier route than expected but I was really happy with the run. Effort and HR never really got out of line, despite the increasing paces as the run went on, with a fair dollop of climbing thrown into the mix. The rain came in the second half, and my Novablast were soaked but I was in the zone and didn't really mind the rain at all. One of my favourite runs of the year so far. Got in another 30 or so mins off S&C later in the evening. That slot seems to work for me at the moment and is hopefully becoming routine.

43.6 miles for the week, which is my highest mileage week in years. Pleasingly it feels very manageable though - spread over 6 days it's not too onerous at all. Big week ahead now with the biggest LT run (38 mins straight) and the final Progression LR (last 3 miles at LT).

Mr. Guappa

6th March - 12th March

Monday - Rest

Tuesday - 5.11 miles easy (9:46/mi). As I mentioned last week, I had a bit of a cold and the quad was giving out, so kept things short and easy to start this week. Kept this run as flat as I could as well.

Wednesday - 4.07 miles recovery (10:08/mi). In the office so some nice, flat lunchtime miles around UL. The bottom gate to the UL track was open so I wandered in for a few laps before continuing on. Mostly on grass after that. There were markings around the field which I suspected were from an XC race, and a google afterwards confirmed the University XC had been held there over the previous weekend. They'd thrown a few banks into the lap, but you'd be hard pressed to find a flatter and non-muddy XC course I'd say.

Thursday - 6.04 miles easy (9:27/mi). The closest I've come to dodging a run in forever. It was absolutely miserable out - driving wind, rain, and cold. Setting out I wasn't even sure what I'd do, but eventually settled on the same undulating loop as last Tuesday. Happy to have done that much.

Friday - 8.16 miles endurance (8:53/mi avg). The quad and the cold were 90% better, so decided it was time to re-introducce some effort. Could have done an LT run here and standard endurance LR on Sunday, but instead did an MLR here and Progression on Sunday, as I'd not done one of those to date. This was a hilly enough loop, so tried to run to the correct effort rather than be a slave to the paces. Did a decent (but nowhere near perfect) job of that.

Saturday - 3.78 miles recovery (9:45/mi). My Strava feed didn't give me any 'your activity from x year(s) ago' - turns out this was my first ever run on March 11th. Mindblowing, I know.

Sunday - 13.20 miles progression (8:17/mi avg). I dusted off the Endorphin Speed 2's for this - hadn't worn them in a while and they felt great. My plan was 3 miles at 9:20, 2 at 8:50, 3 at 8:20, 3 at 7:40, last 2 at LT (7:00). The early miles were into the wind - this should have meant I'd have some help later, but the wind died down as the run went on. Despite the wind, and the uphill nature of the opening miles I was cantering along. In fact, the first 8 miles of this were bliss - I was motoring along, ticking off the miles, happy out, thinking this was a breeze and life was great. It only occurred to me around the 7th mile, that I was barely over half way and I'd be needing to pick up the pace again (and again) in the next 6 miles. I'd also overdressed - it was miserable and threatening looking as I started out, but I finished up with gloves and a neck buff in my pockets and a rain jacket around my waist. The 9th, 10th, 11th miles were at 7:40 - definitely felt the increased effort here, but still felt pretty good. Into the last 2 miles then and upped the pace again - the wind which should have been helping had turned into a crosswind, but these miles were thankfully a small net downhill. Had to really push in the last mile and I was so glad when the watch beeped for 13. Pace was 7:06 for both LT miles, which was spot on. The whole run was spot on really - felt I judged the effort pretty well, and was able to lift the pace each time when called for. There's another one of these in a few weeks time, so will be interesting to see how that goes, when I won't be as fresh.

40.3 miles for the week. Most of the miles were in the latter part of the week, which is not ideal, but the quad feels good now so hopefully the few extra light days did the trick. This week has the first VO2 max session, although I might swap it for an LT session that I missed last week - there's not much more LT stuff left in the plan, and I'd like to get that one in - where as there are a good few VO2 max sessions (and races) in the coming weeks.

Mr. Guappa

27th February - 5th March

Monday - Rest

Tuesday - 5.85 miles easy (9:44/mi) A lunch time run around the local loop. It's a pretty undulating loop, with no real sustained flat section. A really nice relaxed run, although my left leg (hamstring and quad) was giving out a bit.

Wednesday - 4.21 miles recovery (9:48/mi) A few recovery miles at lunchtime.

Thursday - 10 miles vanilla (9:24/mi) I wouldn't really have a window at the weekend for a long run, so moved it forward. This was a pre-work run, which I kept as flat as I could given this was a step-back week. Very happy with how this went, just felt nice and controlled throughout and the miles ticked away. A nice start to the day. Had physio in the afternoon - she worked on the left hamstring and quad - nothing major suspected there, some stretching and minding should resolve it.

Friday - Rest

Saturday - 6.07 miles easy (9:32/mi) We were in Center Parcs for the weekend so got in an hour or so both days. There is a nice enough outer path through the woods which is roughly 3 miles, so added in some exploring off that to make up the 6.

Sunday - 6.13 miles easy (9:46/mi) Similarish route to the day before, except ran the path in the opposite direction.

32.3 miles for the week. No S&C but plenty activity over the weekend to make up for it. The left leg has improved, but I'll take it easy to start this week to allow that and a lingering cold to (hopefully) fully clear up.

Mr. Guappa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120311877#Comment_120311877

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120324018#Comment_120324018

Thank you both for the inputs, much appreciated. Yeah D, the endurance runs start off at the easier end of easy in the earlier miles, and progress towards steady/moderate for the closing miles. I'm sure you're right to say they are crucial runs, and are in the plan for a reason. I'll hopefully squeeze in the odd one as the weeks go by, but it definitely won't be every week. In addition to them not fitting into a convenient window, there's probably a reluctance on my part to be adding too much work - I've got to this point by building gradually so I tend to veer towards (or create) the conservative path.

ariana`

I like the 4-6mile runs too A. They can be squeezed in at lunch or during an evening after school activity where you have 55mins while the kids are doing their thing. I do that a couple of evenings a week, some days it's the only way to get a run in, and it gets me running in different locations breaking the monotony of the week. I totally agree it has to work for you and your life, there is no point if it's just adding stress and isn't practical, it's the main reason I'm just setting my own training at the moment - the coaching accountability part was starting to stress me out and I can't settle on a plan that fits quite right...

It'll be interesting to see how the plan goes for you, but it's not your main goal for the year either so it's a good time to allow yourself some flexibility, and as D says evaluate afterward. You are on a roll at the moment which is great to see.

Murph_D

It can certainly be difficult. I do think though that MLRs at a certain pace are crucial runs. Correct me, does FRR favour steady (aerobic) pace for these? I do remember the difficulty squeezing these into the standard workday lunchtime run when I used that plan. I think though from what I know now that It’s better to do the MLR than break it up. The stimulus from a steady 11 miles is a lot different to what you get from a split 6/5, I reckon. But it’s all about trying out and then trying to evaluate critically.

Mr. Guappa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120302582#Comment_120302582

Yeah I find there is a real lack of 4-6 mile runs in this plan, and I like those! I suppose it would change the stimulus a bit, and maybe I'd have better results following the plan to the letter, but at the moment I'm happy enough that even my pared back version is still providing an increase in stimulus compared to what I'd have done recently, so it's still (hopefully) progress, but maybe at a slower rate than if I did include the midweek MLR. I do wonder if we're all guilty of placing too much focus of the importance of one workout or another, and think simply racking up decent (relative) mileage with the odd bit of appropriate work will go a long way.

Plus, this way allows me to add the 6th day regularly and slowly build up the mileage without it seeming unduly onerous. I do worry I'm doing too many 3-4 mile days at the moment, but that will change as the mileage goes up.

At the end of the day, the plan has to work for me, and my life. Where possible it's ideal for me to get in as much of my midweek miles as reasonable at lunchtime. I don't mind the odd early start or late outing, but if it's 2-3 times a week then it would soon become a chore, especially at this time of year, and for a race that's not the main goal I don't want to push the boat out too far when there's no need. Once I get into marathon training more flexibility will be required of course, and that's fine - at least in the summer there will be more daylight so options for running windows naturally increase (although kids activites will complicate that!).

ariana`

The FRR plan has a midweek endurance run ranging from 8-11 miles as the plan progresses. I might squeeze it in some weeks, but in general I'd rather split that mileage over two runs and add a sixth day to the plan. It just makes things easier by being able to fit it in at lunchtime. Plus, I'm always concious (perhaps too much) of not overdoing things, so I'd rather get the same miles in across two handy runs rather than a harder medium-length run.

This medium-long run is one of the things that has put me off the FRR plans in the past. I find, like you with work and a busy kids' schedule to contend with, it is easier to squeeze in 2 * 45min runs than 1 * 90min run midweek. I wonder would it change the stimulus much? I suppose at the end of the day it's probably better than not getting the miles in at all?

Good luck with the S&C, any bit will help. I could do with some mobility/stretching myself 🤦‍♀️

Mr. Guappa

20th - 26th February

Monday - Rest

Tuesday - 6.08 miles easy, with 6 x 12s hills and 6 x 100m strides (9:52 avg). Found a nice little hill which I'd never thought of before for these short hill reps and it suited perfectly. Nice to get that little bit of speed into the legs.

Wednesday - 4.12 miles recovery (10:12/mi). The FRR plan has a midweek endurance run ranging from 8-11 miles as the plan progresses. I might squeeze it in some weeks, but in general I'd rather split that mileage over two runs and add a sixth day to the plan. It just makes things easier by being able to fit it in at lunchtime. Plus, I'm always concious (perhaps too much) of not overdoing things, so I'd rather get the same miles in across two handy runs rather than a harder medium-length run.

Thursday - 8.23 miles with 18 mins LT, 4 mins off, 15 mins LT. Had to squeeze this one in early before work which wasn't ideal but had to be done. Got up a touch earlier to allow me to fully wake and drink a cup of tea. I picked a nicer route, elevation wise, than last weeks LT run, and also took the Magic Speed 2's for their debut outing. I also added a couple of quick strides to the 15 minute warm-up. As happens at least 50% of the time, I realised as I pressed the lap button to start the LT bit that I'd never started the workout on the watch, and had just started a standard run instead. Oh well, not a huge deal, although a bit annoying. Target paces by the plan would be 6:56 -7:06 but I wasn't too hung up on those. Struggled to get near the pace for the first mile, and the whole first 18 mins just didn't feel fluid at all. Paces came in at 7:17, 7:05 and 6:57 (0.48mi). Ended up a touch short of the 18 mins as I couldn't remember what pace each previous mile had been in order to tot the 18 mins up manually. The 4 mins recovery felt just about right and then the second 15 mins felt great. At least initially. In contrast to the earlier work, I felt smooth, fluid and strong. Kept checking the pace and HR because I was sure it couldn't be going this well. The hurt did begin to bite for the last 5 mins but I was able to dig in and see it out. Went slightly over the 15 mins this time as again I couldn't remember the exact splits. 6:52, 7;00 and 6:53 (0.2 mi) for the second rep. Delighted with this. The Magic Speeds felt good, but my initial thought was that I prefer the Saucony Speeds.

Friday - 3.15 miles recovery (10:17mi). Another pre-work run. Legs feeling no ill effects after the previous day.

Saturday - 12.05 miles endurance (8:47 avg). A bit of a dose had hit the house, and I was worried that I'd pick it up too. I had initially pencilled this in for Sunday, but when I was feeling good Saturday morning I said I'd chance it then in case the bug caught me before Sunday. The first two miles felt a bit like work, and I wondered if I had, in fact, caught the dose. Once I hit the nice flowing downhill third mile though I felt great. Spent the next 4 miles trying to reign in the pace and I couldn't believe the contrast to last weeks long run which was a right struggle at times. I was in the zone, the miles were ticking by and this was such a pleasurable run. Around mile 7 I turned towards home and was hit with a nice, stiff breeze. Maybe that had been helping me up to now and was why the first half felt so good!?! Most of the second half of the run was into this wind, so tougher going at times as the paces picked up, but not too bad in all honesty. A flock of sheep being hunted down the road stopped me in my tracks for a minute towards the end - a not unwelcome breather when it happened but it did fairly ruin my rhythm. All-in-all I was delighted with this run. A nice bounce back from last week. Wondered after if maybe I'd been the first to get (a mild form of) the dose and it had affected the long run last week.

Sunday - 3.63 miles recovery (9:45/mi). Pace was faster than my usual recovery effort. The legs felt fine and effort was appropriately very easy. I don't really pay much attention to the pace on my easy or recovery runs until I check it after. Broke out the mat later that evening for 30 mins S&C to ease me back into that habit. I've been threatening to do a bit since the start of the year but kept making excuses. Hopefully it becomes a habit - even once a week for a while would be good.

A decent week with 37.2 miles covered and the 2 big runs going really well. A step-back week now this week before I hit the bigger weeks of the plan.

Mr. Guappa

13th - 19th February

Monday - Rest

Tuesday - 7.58 miles with 16 mins LT, 4 mins off, 12 mins LT. Seeing as I was jumping in at week 2, I just split the difference between the week 1 (14/4/12) and week 2 (18/4/12) LT runs on the plan. I got a shock when I looked up the prescribed paces based on my Dungarvan time - would be 6:56-7:06 for these. That felt like a massive leap from the paces I'd been doing them at last year, and this was going to be a lumpy route with plenty wind about, so I dialled back my expectations a few notches and tried to run at a consistent effort. This was tough enough going, but manageable. I'll try get out on a fairer route for this weeks LT session. Paces came in at 7:37, 6:58, 6:37 (0.21mi), 7:12 and 7:27 (0.64mi). The wild pace variations reflect the hilly route and changing wind, but I felt the effort was pretty even for the most part.

Wednesday - 4.35 miles recovery @ 10:27. A shuffle around UL, keeping it flat and running on grass here and there. Soggy in parts so mainly on the gravel paths.

Thursday - 5.6 miles easy @ 9:39. A nice lunch time out-and-back. I do like an easy hour or so at lunchtime - no thinking or planning involved, just head out the door and run.

Friday - 11.13 miles endurance (8:54 avg). I wasn't sure I'd have much of a window for a LR over the weekend, so got it done early on Friday morning. Similar to the LT paces, I got a surprise when I checked the new endurance paces. I had been running these at 9:50 -> 8:50 before Waterford, and now they would be 9:20 -> 8:20. The plan was 4 miles at 9:20, 4 at 8:50 and 3 at 8:20. This was a struggle, and the last 3 miles were horrible. I've recently come to the conclusion that I really don't like rolling out of bed and getting straight into anything more than easy effort - maybe I could get up earlier, but that's not too enticing an option tbh. The second main problem with this run was that the middle 4 miles were all gradual uphill - this definitely took a toll come the final 3 miles, which were flatter and downhill but the legs were heavy. To be fair I hit the paces all the way through, but it was just a slog. I should have eased off a touch in those middle miles. Next weeks LR is a Progression with the final 3 at LT, but I'm just going to do a normal endurance instead and see if I can get a handle on those first.

Saturday - Rest

Sunday - 5.51 miles easy @ 9:54. We'd travelled over to London on the Saturday for the Spurs match on Sunday afternoon. I'd wondered where I'd go for my run, but it turned out that Finsbury park was right across the road from the hotel, so that decision was made easy. It was a perfect park for running, with a 1.5 mile main inner looop and loads of paths off that. Plenty runners about, as well as American Football training, tennis, baseball, and I even spotted an athletics track just as I was finishing up. Cracking day afterwards at the new Spurs stadium - it's such an impressive venue.

34.1 miles for the week, and a fair bit of walking on top of that over the weekend. Interesting to see how I get on with the LT and LR now this week.

Mr. Guappa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120250549#Comment_120250549

Thanks. Yeah the main sessions each week are LT in the first half of the plan (run at roughly 15-25s faster than HM-pace), and in the back half of the plan the main session flips to VO2 max/speed type stuff. The rest of the week is made up of recovery runs, easy runs with strides, and the endurance runs (easy to moderate pace). So no HM-pace at all in it really, although my LT run this week ended up very much in the HM-pace range due to hills and wind.

Murph_D

Good luck with Faster Road Running, I've used that HM plan myself successfully. If I remember correctly it had surprisingly little HM-pace running in it, but it did the aerobic conditioning bit well and it resulted in a very good race for me anyway. It's good to switch approaches every couple of years I think, keeps it interesting.

Mr. Guappa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120249132#Comment_120249132

Cheers M. Yeah I 100% get what you mean - I equal parts enjoy it and dread it. Coaching is a strong word for what I do to be fair - chief shoelace fixer would be more accurate.

Belated congrats on the 10 mile PB. Coaching under age myself. It can be simultaneously rewarding and torture.

Mr. Guappa

6th - 12th February

Monday - 3.72 miles recovery (10:21)

Tuesday - Rest

Wednesday - 4.54 miles recovery (10:56)

Thursday - 5.56 miles easy (9:58)

Friday - Rest

Saturday - 6.03 easy miles (9:46)

Sunday 10.24 easy miles (9:47)

A nice handy week to allow a bit of recovery after Dungarvan. 30.1 miles in the end, and went passed 200 miles for the year, which is a solid start. Nothing too exciting to note running wise - no lasting niggles or soreness after Dungarvan, pleasingly. Attended a soccer coaching course on Saturday morning - nice to pick up a few pointers on how to approach coaching the u8's, although there was plenty soccer-type work in the bits where I was one of the guinea pig players for the other budding coaches. Plenty soreness in the days after as a result, and a timely reminder of why I knocked the 5-a-side on the head pretty quickly last year - great craic as it may be, the injury risk just felt too great for it to be compatible with running.

Focus now turns to the Limerick Half in 11 weeks time. I'll be jumping in at week 2 of the 12 week P&L Faster Road Running plan. Couple of reasons for going with this plan. Firstly, it should suit my weekly schedule, and I've had decent results on the few previous occassons I've dabbled with P&L. The other main reason is as a test run for Dublin - it's a long way off, and I'm very much leaning towards the Boards Grads plan again for that but wanted to see how I got on with P&L here as I've never really done a full P&L plan outside of the base version.

I'll mainly follow the plan as prescribed, although there will be some alterations. There are two tune-up races (8k-10k), 2 weeeks and 4 weeks out from Limerick. I've been looking at options and there are a few workable ones on those weeks, or in-and-around those weeks, so we'll see what ends up suiting. I'd considered the Mallow 10M mid-plan too, but I'm happy enough with my Dungarvan 10M time and I'd like to stick to the plan as closely as I can.

ariana`

Thanks A. You definitely can continue to improve, lots of room there for PBs at several distances. There's lots to be said for 20 years of inactivity and low hanging fruit - PBs are fun!

Edited to add my report will be brief, I really didn't deserve the result I got 😅

Mr. Guappa

Thanks everyone for the kind words - it's certainly nice to be back claiming PB's again!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120214553#Comment_120214553

Thanks E. I suppose first of all it could be argued that I'm overselling myself saying that I've jumped a level, but that's what it feels like to me, and maybe that's all that matters anyway - that in my mind I feel like I've made strides and feel confident of more progress to come.

What's it down to? Great question, and one I've given a fair bit of thought too over the past 24 hours. The honest answer is that it's probably all relatively low hanging fruit, so to speak. I'm still in the infancy of my running 'career' really, so improvements should be expected by just logging miles and being consistent?

Prior to my first dabble with running in 2017, I'd basically been inactive since my early teens, so 20+ years of nothing, so I was starting from a really low fitness base. Since I started running I had a solid 18 months or so in 2018/19 with two marathon blocks, then 2 middling injured-hit years, followed by the last 10 months which have been nice and consistent. But add that all up and it's not a whole pile really, so if I can just keep the consistency then I should expect to keep improving for a while yet? I don't expect it will be linear - sometimes big chunks, other times lean periods, but I'll just keep plugging away.

Well done on your own PB at the weekend - nearly a minute at 10k - a fairly substantial chunk! Looking forward to that report ☺️

Kellygirl

Congrats on the PB. You really have taken a massive leap after the year (or more?) of injury. Totally down to commitment and resilience.

Comic Book Guy

Congrats A on another PB and lots more to come in 2023, you're in a great place at the mo!

Murph_D

Super stuff, A - I can identify with that feeling, sometimes you just have to grind it out. But you really warmed to the race - what a brilliant second half. Pity we didn't bump into each other, only finished minutes apart.

Bus to race = pints = great planning!

Congrats on the big PB.

coogy

First off, well done on a super race, irrespective of how you felt physically on the day and even the day before, which may have contributed in some way to you not feeling tip-top on the day.

Secondly, you really are going from strength to strength, so great to see. Well done again!

ariana`

Well done A. Sorry it didn't feel as good as you'd have liked but a very respectable performance & PB none the less. And sounds like an all round successful day out for you!

Feels like I've jumped a level in these last few races, and raised some of my own expectations.

You really do seem to have taken a leap forward, I wish I could take a leap like that, I feel like I'm crawling forward - not to sound ungrateful, any forward motion is a positive at this (st)age but a big leap would be nice 😂. What do you think might be the reasons for this, aside of course from your very patient approach to rebuilding a good base post set backs?

Bluesquare

Congrats on the pb and nice report ! Looking forward to following your progression in 2023!

DeepBlue

Feeling crap during the race = temporary

PB times = permanent 😎

Congrats on a great race and report. Mile 9 probably felt a bit different without the horizontal drizzle/rain and wind lashing into you which seemed to be a staple in the last couple of editions of the race.

Laineyfrecks

Well done A, great to pb a race when you're not feeling race sharp, just shows how far you've come & no doubt with plenty more to come! All your patience & consistency is paying off & it's very well deserved 😊

Mr. Guappa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120211676#Comment_120211676

Thanks V. Yeah the first water stop was a bit early I thought, although now that you mention it maybe that little sup helped me get over the little bit of stress I felt in the early going. I suppose they have to put the water stops in convenient locations for lay out and clean up. Well done yourself - a more than solid showing.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120211842#Comment_120211842

Cheers D. Feels like I've jumped a level in these last few races, and raised some of my own expectations.

Lambay island

Well Done. That is some great racing and some final mile even with that hill in there. Great to see the base stuff standing to you! You will smash those 5k and 10k Pb's next time out

ReeReeG

Nice one, always an extra good report when there's a PB involved! Congrats! I got to the start line with about 5 mins to go (the relaxation when you know you're miles off PB shape!) so not surprised I saw no one!

My brother had warned me of the last incline with 400 to go, but failed to highlight that beast at the start of mile 9, though I think he did that on purpose. The conditions really were perfect though weren't they? I could have done with the 2nd water station a little sooner (I'd taken none at the first one however) but other than that it was a superb race setup.