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Once in a Lifetime....for now

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  • Registered Users Posts: 4,807 ✭✭✭skyblue46


    Monday 16th: Rest Day

    Tuesday 17th: Off up to Poppintree Park again for a really enjoyable session of 6*2 mins @ 10k pace off 90 secs followed by 3k @ HM pace. Target for 10k pace was 6:35-6:40 but I overdid it on them all. 6:23, 21, 28, 30, 29, 27. On such short reps the time difference only equates to a few strides so no harm done. Target for the HM was 7:00 and the actual was 6:57. Happy and feeling good 😊

    Wednesday 18th: An easy 40 mins @ 8:51 around the Collins Ave, Griffith Ave lap

    Thursday 19th: 30 mins moderate pace and 3*EIM 1k. I couldn't choose between an hour of moderate or 6*1k so did half of both! Again I really enjoyed it.

    Friday 20th: 55 mins vanilla easy @8:35

    Saturday 21st: Session of 6*3 mins @5k pace followed by 4*150m strides. I decided to pull out the Asics Hyper Speed for this. They are probably as close as can be got nowadays to an old school flat, no great stack height and a plain old EVA foam. I'm not sure if it was the lack of shoe tech or anything else but this was harder than expected. Target pace was 6:15. Paces were 6:16, 11, 17, 9, 9 and 6:06. Strides which are basically 50m accelerating to about 85/90% effort, 50m holding pace and 50m gradual deceleration went grand. Upon finishing I noticed that my HR monitor had failed to connect. I assumed it needed a new battery.

    Sunday 22nd: I replaced the battery just before I headed out for 110 mins easy. No joy so I tried another battery. Once again, nothing. It's goosed! I normally do my long runs within a HR window but this time I had to do it on feel. I now know that my feel for easy is too fast 🤣 I planned a loop through Finglas and over to Blanch via Cappagh, then down the old Navan Road and on down to Phibsboro before turning back towards Glasnevin Cemetery followed by a final mile climb up from the bottom of Violet Hill to home. A nice HM exactly which should have been 110 mins. The paces of the first couple of miles told me I wasn't at the lower end of easy but I decided to just stick to running by feel rather than by pace. Great to run on some different roads and glad to have no ill affects from running it at an average 8:11 pace. Did some quick research afterwards and I have ordered a new HR monitor, a Wahoo Tickr X

    Next week is Raheny but I will do a normal Monday-Saturday training plan and just take the race as I feel like it on the day. No interest in PB hunting yet. It may turn out to be 5 miles at HM pace, maybe 3 miles @ HM pace followed by 2 miles of faster if I can. I'll make it up as I go 🤣

    Weekly miles: 50

    YTD miles: 151

    Post edited by skyblue46 on


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,834 ✭✭✭OOnegative


    21:52 through 5k, windy old day here in Den Haag!!



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,834 ✭✭✭OOnegative


    43:15 through 10km.




  • Registered Users Posts: 4,834 ✭✭✭OOnegative


    15k in 1:04:22, push on now!!



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,834 ✭✭✭OOnegative


    20k in 1:25:29



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  • Registered Users Posts: 4,834 ✭✭✭OOnegative


    1:29:47 finish time, BOOM!!! Big PB run! Hurry up now for the pints.



  • Registered Users Posts: 10,398 ✭✭✭✭Murph_D


    Brilliant, thanks for the updates, @OOnegative.



  • Registered Users Posts: 3,020 ✭✭✭Kellygirl


    Ah fantastic. Well done S! Enjoy the celebrations now.



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,807 ✭✭✭skyblue46


    Thanks for the updates B, much appreciated. It kinda takes the suspense out of the race report though 🤣🤣

    So here we are, the first proper race report of a race run in anger since the Dunshaughlin 10k on June 22nd 2019! That in itself had been a very underwhelming run but little did I know at the time that Covid and repeated injury setbacks were in my future.

    As I mentioned in the recent past I feel that any races under 10k are not really a great idea with my ongoing managing of the tendinopathy. Hill sprints had to be dropped from my training plan after an adverse reaction to them. The immediate future will be managed very carefully. The selection of CPC Loop Den Haag fitted the bill in a few respects....a chance to visit B and family, a well organised big event, a trip abroad and a chance to get rid of the PB I was least proud of, a 1:33:18 in Ratoath in 2018. That was the day of stopping to walk for a bit...twice!!

    Goals for the race were quite clear. C goal was a PB, something I would have been very upset not to get. B goal was to run at 1:31:30 pace and be able to hold it. A goal was to do that but to have the strength to push the last couple of kms from that pace and know that I was in a good place for a sub 90 attempt later in the year.

    I was quite nervous in the lead up and was seriously doubting my right to be in the first start wave. I mentioned to B that I was concerned that all these very serious and mannerly northern Europeans would strictly adhere to placing themselves in appropriate waves in a way Irish runners don't! He reassured me that there would be as many chancers there as at home haha. While I stayed in Wave 1 I stood right at the back of it. It actually took me over 3 minutes to get over the timing mat at the start!

    Miles 1-4

    What an horrific start...I really had placed myself way too far back. The first km was like a slalom as I went around runners, ran on the path, ran around parked cars, ran to the right of the road and back to the left, fook it I even ran on a central reservation! Eventually it became more manageable to pass people but it meant moving out from the shelter and into a stiff headwind. Mile 1 chimed at 7:04 which was bang on for goal B. I knew the wind would be against us for the first 8/9k, helping for the next 8/9 and then a crosswind for the last 4 or so. I decided to run the bit into the wind at a HM heart rate so as not to overdo the effort. The plan was 157/8 bpm. A quick glance at the watch showed a problem....116 beats it said. Boll0x, the strap was acting up. Nothing I could do but run by feel. Thankfully it picked up the HR soon after and I reverted to that plan. Mile 2 was 6:51, a little pacier than planned but HR was ok. B had told me that he would be near the 5k mark with the kids to give me a shout. When Mile 3 ticked by in 6:56 I began scouring the spectators but there were too many and unfortunately I didn't see them. Mile 4 was 6:52.

    Miles 5-9

    Finally time to think....the congestion had eased, I didn't need to watch out for B and I was getting close to the end (I thought) of an unhelpful breeze. I was running too fast for Goal B and a few seconds behind Goal A. What to do?? I remembered a recent chat over a pint or two with Denis where he suggested a 90 min goal and I said I wouldn't go for it because I was afraid of both injury and disappointment. I needed a morale boost not a spirited failure, heroic or otherwise. As I recounted the conversation in my head I realised how negative I sounded. Time to bury that. Let's get this sub 90!! The next miles were 6:51/48/47/45 as we ran along the coast. HR was up to 160 but I knew I could bring it home at that. Average pace on the watch was 6:49 and I was feeling good.

    Miles 10-12

    We turned back in from the coast towards the city and I got my first surprise...a bloody decent drag and the wind that I expected to be a crosswind was blowing from 2 o clock...from the right but still into the face. This mile was a struggle, 6:49. Thankfully what goes up must come down and the next 2 miles were less onerous. It was time to push for home and 2 miles of 6:41 and 6:36 had me working proper hard but also thinking of a low 1:29

    To the finish...

    This is where the panic hit. I was motoring but at my limit. Threw in a 6:33 mile and started to believe a 1:28:xx was possible. Then I saw the 20k marker and glanced at the watch...1:25:30...WTAF...watch and course distance were way off. I have 4:29 to run 1.1k....i've been averaging 4:20 per km with a balls out effort and now I have to run another 100m on top of that in an extra 9 seconds...sweet Jesus I'm giving it my all and it won't be enough....an hour of thinking I have it comfortably in the bag and now it's all gone. I need 5k pace to finish....blinkers on and I absolutely bury myself, pace is holding ok as I round the last corner with about 300m to go. I gave every last bit of me for that 300 and stopped the watch as I crossed the line..a quick look, 1:29:47. I collapsed over a barrier and began to heave...thankfully there was nothing there hahaha...the benefit of not taking water or gels :-))

    What a roller-coaster of emotions in that last 4 minutes and 18 seconds....

    A short cooldown and then back to the hotel where I saw the great results from Bohermeen and Garristown on the phone. Well done all, some really great racing.

    Needless to say the evening with B entailed beer, lots of it!

    Overall: 805/8566

    M55: 14/388

    Post edited by skyblue46 on


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,020 ✭✭✭Kellygirl


    I love that you smashed your A goal. So well deserved for all your patience and perseverance the last couple of years. I hope (am sure I should say) you had a brilliant time with B and that the brilliant race was the icing on the cake. Very well done. What’s next now?



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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,006 ✭✭✭Lambay island


    Great Stuff - you really backed yourself there and doubled down when you got your fright at 20km. Well deserved!



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,807 ✭✭✭skyblue46


    Thanks K. Only target now is Amsterdam marathon in October



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,807 ✭✭✭skyblue46


    Fright is an understatement. Haha. Watch had it as 13.27 miles and a 1:28:40 for the half. I'm sure there's some GPS issues there as well as me running a zig zag line for the first mile or so...



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,807 ✭✭✭skyblue46


    Fright is an understatement. Haha. Watch had it as 13.27 miles and a 1:28:40 for the half. I'm sure there's some GPS issues there as well as me running a zig zag line for the first mile or so...

    Post edited by skyblue46 on


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,181 ✭✭✭healy1835


    Inspirational stuff Sean. It's been a long road from where you were to banging out sub 90 HM's. This is the stuff I need to read about to keep my mojo topped up. Enjoy the few months before Amsterdam block starts and have a crack at a couple of shorter distances.



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,287 ✭✭✭ariana`


    You really emptied the tank there, that was a fairly significant FU to Ratoath 2019!! I really admire you S for many reasons, your perseverance through injury, your patience to stick to key races and well obviously your ability to dig deep when questions are asked of you. If you came home with your B or even your C goal we'd still all be suitably impressed, it took guts to put yourself on the line for the 'A' goal and not to settle. Fair play to Denis for calling you on your goal too, sometimes other people see what you might not see yourself 😉

    Recover well, I hope you don't feel too many ill effects especially in the troublesome hammies.



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,491 ✭✭✭Laineyfrecks


    Great read S, absolutely so well deserved as everyone else has stated. Your patience, determination & hard work has shone through in this result, belief in ourselves is sometimes the hardest thing to accept but I'm so glad you accepted it & smashed that goal😊



  • Registered Users Posts: 7,692 ✭✭✭Mr. Guappa


    I gotta say it brings a massive smile to my face to see you truly back amongst it and smashing it on race day. Congrats on the performance and the PB, delighted for you.



  • Registered Users Posts: 3,435 ✭✭✭Comic Book Guy


    Cracking report S but an even better achievement. Great closing effort to finish it out too, lots more to come from you this year. Well done!



  • Registered Users Posts: 10,398 ✭✭✭✭Murph_D


    Wow, even more impressive achievement than I'd thought!

    You're a bit race rusty so can probably be forgiven for not coordinating actual distance with the race markers (and being mile/km bilingual). But to have received that kick up the arse and pulled off that finish, it just shows the strength you've developed with the disciplined approach over the past couple of years.

    I didn't think your pre-race goal was negative by the way - putting in a sustainably solid performance as part of a strategy towards a later sub-90 was a very good plan, although I'm sure it feels great to have gotten the milestone out of the way even earlier.

    Recover well. Delighted for ya.



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  • Registered Users Posts: 2,376 ✭✭✭diego_b


    Cracking run, well done on backing yourself to give it a shot and delighted with what you've overcome to see you nail it. Maximum effort and nothing to spare to get across the line and reach that goal, great stuff.



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,407 ✭✭✭Lazare


    Absolutely amazing race Sean, that last km was pure guts, took some strength to pull it off. Be very proud of that.


    Awesome.



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,834 ✭✭✭OOnegative


    I’m still waiting on you to pay that Tikkie for the Red Light District Sunday evening!! Should have seen her lads, hands like shovels & first woman I seen with an Adam’s apple……..



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,407 ✭✭✭Lazare


    Tentative thoughts on a possible target for your next visit to Dutch shores?


    Asking for a friend.



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,407 ✭✭✭Lazare




  • Registered Users Posts: 1,314 ✭✭✭Bluesquare


    Well done and great report . I admire your courage and grit for taking that chance for sub 90 opportunity and and delivering on it. I’m super impressed by the mental maths that far into a race and of course the 5k pace motoring . Well deserved !



  • Registered Users Posts: 646 ✭✭✭marathon2022


    A quiet reminder of the reasons I drop in to read the training logs most mornings, fantastic racing and report. Well done



  • Registered Users Posts: 5,236 ✭✭✭AuldManKing


    Super run and what a way to get the sub 90 - grinding it out in the last 1km.

    Very well done - super to see the progress and the great return to form.



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,807 ✭✭✭skyblue46


    I'm more than happy to answer your friend. Assuming he is a few years younger than me I'll probably be hoping to target something in the range of 6-8 mins slower than he should be 😉



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  • Registered Users Posts: 4,807 ✭✭✭skyblue46


    Race rust could be blamed. Truth is that it was just a case of not expecting such a variance which resulted in blind faith in the watch. I did consider framing the race as one of my expertly paced, fast finishing efforts by design...sadly it wasn't 🤣



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