Sorry, I thought you said get faster before the 100th Marathon

Ah lads, you're giving me a reputation. It was freezing out there. Blue Skin on Black Lycra doesn't do anything for me. :rolleyes:

Kinnitty Marathon
Was an adventure getting there to start with, From watching large trucks slide back down the Lucan exit of the M50, to driving in blizzards till Kinnegad. Think Ultraman was a little worried about my Ice Drifting skills.

Baltic conditions at the start line, Nice fall of snow at the start when the group photo was being taken. Was wrapped up with two tops, long leggings and compression socks and gloves.

I only ran about 40 miles since DCM, only did one 10 miler and the first two weeks was just sitting on my ass eating and drinking, so wasn't racing this one, just wanted to go out and enjoy it. I kept Ultraman company for the two loops.

Had porridge and bagel at 6am and didn't have anything since. After mile 13, I hadn't taken a gel yet and didn't feel like I needed one, so I thought I'd try to last the whole run on water only. Felt myself getting a bit tired and hungry in the last couple of miles, but didn't bother with the gels. Water was freezing cold too, but didn't drink the normal amount I would on a run, so it was a good test of seeing how little I could manage on.

Finished the race in 4:01:50. I wasn't even pushing for even a sub 4, just to enjoy the run, finish the race and thaw out in the car.

Legs felt great after the race. No tiredness, pains or strains, don't even feel like I ran a marathon. Really happy with it considering the last four weeks.

Last run of 2010 is the Waterford Half. Might race it, I'll wait till the day.

RayCun wrote: »

well done, you complete lunatic!

Cheers Ray, it was a good experience to go out and do it at a handy pace and not worry about pbs and splits etc. Probably the coldest race I'll run unless I sign up for the North Pole Marathon.... hmmm... there's an idea! lol.

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Will we not be seeing you at Jingle Bells next week, if I'm signed up for a crappy 5k I expect everyone to join me!

Well, my Christmas Party is on Friday night, so I don't think I'll be in racing form after it. I'll be thinking of you all while I nurse my hangover.

Didnt fancy a 2 hour drive to get 2miles home, so left the car in work and kitted out in the running gear and headed off for a ramble.

Great fun running through the snow while everyone else is queuing in traffic.

5.2M in 52:48 (10:10 pace)

Oops, found my log in the basement, didn't realise I hadn't run in so long. Too busy at the Christmas Party and looking at snow. Not sure if the miles clocked up dancing count.

Went to the gym today. For a change, I did all the core work first, then went on the treadmill.

12km in 1 hour (8:02 pace for 7.4 miles)

just to get the legs in some form for Waterford if it goes ahead. Was a bit disappointed, every treadmill I've been on, stops after one hour. I was all set to finish after one hour, ramped up the speed in the last few minutes just for a last sprint, and then the display clocked over the hour and kept going. The one time I didn't have the time to keep running a bit longer.

hot to trot wrote: »

Great running Aiman.
When I used to go to the gym. our treaddies were the same. SO I used to stop it during one of my rest periods when doing intervals - say after 20 or so minutes so that I would still clock the hour when you reset it and it doesnt interrupt things when you are in the middle of the nitty gritty.

Cheers hot to trot, I'll have to remember that one.

2.23M in 23:36 (10:36 pace)
Got a phone call from Social Services telling me that my blog would be taken off me, becuase I keep neglecting it.

Exactly 2 weeks since my last run, I HTFU and went out for a nice lunchtime run along the frozen canal. I had taken a bit of time off since the Waterford half was cancelled and had a niggling headcold that was in the background, so I decided to take it easy and not inflame it. Instead, I took an unorthodox tactic of beating it with lots of Christmas food and alcohol, it eventually worked but has noted side affects of weight gain and a tired liver. Might need to tweak the technique (food to alcohol ratio) the next time I have a small cold.

Anyway, braved the elements and for the first 1.5M, I found it tough, between breathing in the cold, slogging through the deep snow and the general demise of fitness. Felt much better after that and felt the 'runners high' coming back. Couldnt have run faster today, but I'll be working back up the fitness foodchain fairly rapidly now.

Sorry, I'm still about, but had a relapse from last week's head cold and its knocked me for 6 at the moment. Not sure when I'll get back out. Getting a bit anxious now, because I need to get back on the road and knock up the miles for a 50k at the end of February and there's also the Waterford Half in a couple of weeks time.

Not sure if I should just get a refund for the half now, cos I wont be breaking any records except probably my slowest half. Then again, it would be an incentive to get back running as soon as I'm better, and just treat it like a training run that I have to pay for.

Argh, I'm getting cabin fever. Cant wait till I get over this flu thing and start clocking up the miles again. The closest I've got to running in ages is wearing my long sleeve Finisher tops under my tee-shirts to keep me warm. Just as well I backed out of signing up for the Art O'Neill.

Now I just have to start working out a training plan to get me ready for Connemara in April. I think I went a bit overboard on the miles last year, cos I was slapping extra runs in during lunchtimes etc, but it didnt do me any harm, so will probably just repeat again this time, but maybe set time targets for the runs instead of just meandering. Definitely want to improve on the 6:36 from last year.

10 miles in the park today. Met up with Menoscemo and Jackyback. Pace was about 9 min miles, but I ran out of juice just before mile 8 and let them go on and they upped their pace, cos they were doing another 10 miles on top. I just took it easy to the 10 mile mark. I think once I hit the 7 mile point, psychologically, it was the furthest I have run in nearly 5 weeks, so the body started slowing back a bit. I think because I'm planning another 10 miles tomorrow, I was conserving energy for that run. Once I start ramping up the distances, I'll have a bit more confidence to speed up the pace a bit more.

Another 10M run today. Nice long stretch along the N5, not that many hills, so was enjoyable. Felt much easier then yesterday, but was a bit slower pace throughout. Legs feel good after knocking out 20M in two days, so it must be just a matter of bringing my general fitness back up to scratch and drop the excess Christmas stuffing to bring the speed up to a respectable level.

I'm going to do the Waterford Half next Saturday, but aiming for a 1:55 - 2:00 time and enjoy instead of breaking my bo**ix and making the next day's 13.1M a chore.

Met Menoscemo, Claralara and Mithril on the track this evening. Did 6 x 800 intervals with between 2-3 mins rest between. First bit of speed work in a long time, but the first of many.

800 lap - Pace
1 - 7.21
2 - 7.25
3 - 7.29
4 - 7.35
5 - 7.45
6 - 7.32

Along with warm up and cool down, the distance was 5 miles. Found it hard to speed up and keep a consistant pace for each lap, there wasnt much power in the legs, but its only the first week back running, so I'm still optomistic that I'll be back to form fairly quickly.

Woke up to the howling winds this morning. It wasn't raining, but I knew there was lots of rain due later in the day.

Picked up Menoscemo and RK and had a handy trip down the motorway with an hour to spare after collecting the numbers. Got famished just before the start and indulged in a Power-bar Gel to quench the hunger. Before the day, I was just planning to keep with the 2:00 pacers. When I arrived in Waterford, my new plan was to start with the 1.50 pacers and try not to let the 2:00 pacers catch up. I wasn't planning a PB today, just a Mid distance run as part of the Conn training.

Despite trying to get back into the swing of raining and running over the last couple of weeks, with 5 mins to go, I finally found my Mojo again standing amongst all the other runners, soaking up the atmosphere and anticipation, I was back! Started off strong and kept ahead of the 1:50 pacers until after 4 miles. I was very happy with my pace and condition, despite knowing it was a bit faster than I planned, I felt good in the run.

Then the winds picked up and everyone knuckled down and braced themselves against the strong gusts. My pace was beginning to suffer but I didn't bother drafting behind anyone, just used it as a bit of resistance training. When the rain set in before mile 6, it was torrential and the gear was soaked quite quickly, but once you're wet, you're wet. Cant get any worse.

We left the main road for about 1.5 miles and the route was undulating, head first into the rain and wind. What a combination. Everyone was looking forward to reaching the main road again and have the wind at our backs. This is where the run got good. With the wind behind me, I was able to pick up the pace again and I started overtaking the runners that passed me by throughout the first half of the race (not all of them, but a very respectable chunk of them). My breathing felt good, the legs weren't sore and I was able to knock out a decent pace without the "What Am I Thinking Of' syndrome kicking in.

Gave up looking at the Garmin at mile 10, just focusing on how I felt and ran to what I was almost comfortable with, while picking off a few more runners along the way. Within the last 0.5 miles, I was starting to feel the struggle a bit but despite passing a couple more runners, I didn't have enough energy to pull a sprint out of the bag at the end.

Overall I was delighted with the run. It was better than I planned and gave me such a confidence boost to a difficult last two weeks training and has me on a positive path to Connemara in April.

Splits are as follows
Mile
1 7.44
2 8.19
3 8.11
4 8.51 (Met the winds from here)
5 8.48
6 9.19
7 8.56
8 8.06 (Whoo Hoo, heading back with the wind behind me at last)
9 8.40
10 8.52 (Not sure what was happening there, think there was a hill)
11 8.24
12 8.23
13 8.39

Overall, completed the race in 1:52:09 which ended up being better then I was expecting, considering the conditions.

Has a few Alco Free Weiss Biers afterwards with Menoscemo, RK, Brianderunner, Claralara and jcsmum.

After a long drive back home in the dark, what better way to end a race, then in Ryan's snug with one more Alco-Free beer.

In Summary, I'm glad i didn't skip this race. It gave me the confidence and burst I needed to let me know that despite the difficult effort I experienced in the last couple of weeks trying to get back into the training, I could still run a strong race (even if it wasn't up to the usual pace) which will stand to me for the rest of the training. Perhaps listening to the rerun of Tim Nokes 'Central Governor' Theory in the car on the way down help me to make mine HTFU and run like hell. :cool:

Hezekiah Important Whole-wheat wrote: »

Well done Aimman, i think i finalised my race plan the same time you did....at the start line:rolleyes:

lol, Cheers. Some of the best plans are made at the last mintue. You had a great run yourself. Good to see you at the start line. Didnt get to see you at the finish.

Looking back on it, my overall pace for the race was faster then my marathon pace in Dublin last year when I got a 3:44, so it was better then I was originally expecting

claralara wrote: »

Enjoy your jaunt in the mountains today..:)

14M in 2:11

I backed out of the mountain running today, because the legs were a bit tired for running the hilly loop I had planned, so I'll leave it for another day.

Decided to stay in Dublin, but threw in a couple of hills along the Churchtown Road, Taney Road, Goatstown and Darty Road. Not as severe as the mountains, but seems a better option after yesterday. Ran it comfortably and enjoyed running in the sun with just a top and shorts. Almost convinced myself it was nearly summer.

Was a good run, particularly following yesterdays efforts. Getting back to actually enjoying running again. :-)

Catch up on last couple of Days

Tuesday: Early start in the Gym, 7am and did 3M easy at 9:30 recovery pace and a few weights and core work

Total for Tuesday: 3M

Wednesday
Lunchtime: 4.5 run along the canal @ 9:00 pace. Found it handy to do.

Evening: 6 x 800m strides on the UCD track. (7:03) (6:59) (7:17) (7:43) (7:51) (7:16) and a warm up and cool down.

Found run 4 & 5 difficult and lost heart as the pace dropped dramatically, but pulled myself together and knocked out a respectable 6th run. Track was frosty and hands were numb, but that wasn't the reason for the drop off in pace. Reckon consistent 3:30 800m runs is a bit ambitious at this stage, but will probably stick with it, till the latter runs start to catch up. Glad I didn't pull out after the 4th one, would have scarred my Central Governor.

Total miles for Wednesday, 10M

Nice little 3.1M recovery run at lunchtime

3.1M in 29:50 (9:40 pace)

Had planned to do a 15M today and 15M tomorrow, but because I'm looking at a 20M in the mountains next weekend, I though I'd jiggle around the schedule a bit and save a bit of a longer run for tomorrow.

Did 6.5M towards the end of today. A dense fog started falling and darkness was setting in. Found it a bit hard to breath in the sharp cold at first until I got into the second mile. Set off at a good brisk pace, but I took a diversion and ran along the bog tram tracks and the terrain wasn't the best for running in a hurry, so had to slow it down a bit and just enjoyed a bit of a trail run. It was funny though, although the tracks aren't used, I was still looking over my shoulder every now and again, half expecting to see a speeding express train come charging out of the fog with blaring lights and horn to mow me down :eek:. Have to cut down on my horror and thriller films.

Did a bit of core work afterwards and resting up now with a couple of alco free Eirdingers in preparation for tomorrow's 20M.

6.5M in 1:00 (9:14 pace)