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2013; Eat my dust Meno!

claralara

A title to motivate the stubbornness within – I do not want to fail on this.

Connemarathon – 14 weeks. It’ll be my first time running in Connemara. It’ll be my first marathon. Will it be the biggest mistake I’ve ever made? Hopefully not. I’ve decided to buck up and commit 100% as I will have only myself to blame if it all goes to pot. So from now on I will train hard, I will eat better, I will drink less alcohol and more water and I will complete Connemara with a desire to run again and not the wish to hang up my runners.

I hope that this time 14 weeks, the discipline will have paid off and the regrets will be nil!

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jcsmum

Incredible time!!!!!!!!!! Words fail me!

macinalli

menoscemo wrote: »

Were you listening to her interview on Shannonside Radio?

Nope - I was passing the frozen foods section when someone came up and told me the result!

RubyK

Fantastic running CL, massive congrats to you

Aimman

Congratulations! Looking forward to the race report. That was a fantastic victory. You'll surely get an invite to the elite pen for the Dublin Marathon now.

average_runner

Congrats on a great run and victory.

claralara

macinalli wrote: »

Nope - I was passing the frozen foods section when someone came up and told me the result!

Haha... That is gas!

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Well done on the win, well deserved.

RAL3

Congrats on a brilliant time & win, thanks for the shout out on Saturday

Younganne

Fantastic CL, fully deserved too!!!

shels4ever

congratz you've come a long way from the girl who didn't want to run up knockmaroon hill. Your getting the rewards for all your hard work. Great to see it all paying of its example to everyone on here.

average_runner

Look at the first few pages of this log and then look at the last!!

Big difference girl!! Should be very proud of yourself.

Putting us lads to shame!

run44

Amazing time, well done!

Marthastew

Woo Hoo!! Congratulations:D:D:D:D
As everyone else has already said, a very well-deserved win and it's all down to your hard work.

"Howya" magazine called again..... they're really keen to get the photoshoot done before Irish Runner gets to you;) Apparently they've seen Officer Dig dig's Guns and they'll pay anything you want (although if we hold off and then let them know about the truncheon you're guaranteed to get an even bigger offer???;))

sideswipe

Huge Congrats, very impressive stuff altogether. Have checked in here about 5 times this morning hoping to read another epic race report......hurry up please:)

RayCun

sideswipe wrote: »

another epic race report

I think the internet has had to send out for more words

Dory Dory

I think you've gone from receiving the Participation award to Most Improved to Most Valuable all in a matter of months. Amazing really. Not sure where it all ends...I don't believe you've tapped into all that you have yet. Serious congratulations to you. Besides needing a certain level of talent and discipline, I think one secret is - always train with people who are better than you. Seems you always train with the boys. Keep at it. Well done.

chinguetti

I was thinking earlier, should ask CL (nicely) to go onto the novice thread for Dublin this year and show everyone on there that yesterday is what is possible if you stick with it and train hard? And i'm serious in staying this.

Some of us remember those old black and white days when she doubted herself. How many of the novices are in the same position now with the doubts and head wrecking? Would it not be a bit of encouragement to them for the next two months ahead to read about someone else who kept at it and is now winning stuff?

Next question - who plays her and Dig Dig in the film and what will they call it?

TRR

chinguetti wrote: »

Next question - who plays her and Dig Dig in the film and what will they call it?

That's easy Elle Fanning http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1102577/bio and Clint Eastwood http://www.imdb.com/find?q=clint+easywood&s=all

The age profile of both actors is perfect

shels4ever

TRR wrote: »

That's easy Elle Fanning http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1102577/bio and Clint Eastwood http://www.imdb.com/find?q=clint+easywood&s=all

The age profile of both actors is perfect

Digger must really have gone to the dog's since I last seen him.

TRR

shels4ever wrote: »

Digger must really have gone to the dog's since I last seen him.

He was never great but he has deteriorated even further lately.

digger2d2

Dory Dory wrote: »

, I think one secret is - always train with people who are better than you. .

That's what she was doing DD :-) I think I'm redundant now though!

average_runner

digger2d2 wrote: »

Dory Dory wrote: »

, I think one secret is - always train with people who are better than you. .

That's what she was doing DD :-) I think I'm redundant now though!

U can train with her now.

claralara

Ok - race report momentarily. I'm just quoting the post below as I was thinking about it during my run earlier and realised that the Oylegate HM was pretty much 1 year ago and I was curious to compare so I went and digged it up...mad ted!!! :rolleyes:;)

claralara wrote: »

Thursday 25th August
- 7.75 miles @ 9.00
Good run. Had to hide the rain jacket in a bush after about 3 miles as the sun had come out and I was absolutely melting. Typically, I forgot to collect it on the way back but because I don't live in Tallaght or on the unfortunate side of the river, it was still there the next day...

Friday 26th August
- 3.26 Recovery miles @ 9.55
Grand. Blah. Not much to say. Oh except - I'm giving up my beloved scones Third time in a row I've felt like puking for ages after my run having had a scone. Lesson now learned - took a while!

Saturday 27th August
- 3.5 Recovery miles @ 9.52
Did the Rathfarnham 5k loop - was tired and the pace was slow but it made me start thinking about the prospects of a good 5k race in a few weeks... A nice route with potential.

Sunday 28th August
- Oylegate HM LSR - 13.16 miles @ 9.45 average (incl a little walk..:o)
Headed down to this with Digdig as he was pacing and had a spare entry for a free loader Was only ever planning to run it as an LSR after the 20 miler earlier in the week. But stupidly I started out with the 2 hour group chatting away like a cheeky pup given that a 2 hour half is still a very tough run for me. Dropped off after 5 miles and struggled to 8. The first half was mostly uphill and every inch of every stride was an unholy effort - I felt like I was lugging a ton of lead with each step. Freaked out at 8 and walked for about half a mile - was really upset with myself and angry with the world!! Started running again at 8.5 having calmed down and had some strong words with myself. Enjoyed the last bit of the run as a nice LSR in the sunshine with no pressure of racing. Was shattered when I finished but I'd say that was more from the heavy week's training as opposed to the run itself.

Plan - Week 9
Day Plan Actual
Monday Rest Rest
Tuesday 7 Recovery w/ 10X100 strides 20 @ 9.52
Wednesday 12 LSR Pilates & 5 @ 10.06
Thursday Rest 7.75 @ 9.00
Friday 10 w/6 @ LT 3.26 @ 9.55 (Rec)
Saturday 5 Recovery 3.5 @ 9.52 (Rec)
Sunday 20 LSR 13.16 @ 9.45
Total 54 52.6

Highest weekly mileage ever and it was tiring. Not tough to get the miles under my belt but I'm losing speed and energy big time. I've been thinking long and hard about my strategy and my goals. I'm not in (ability or desire) for a sub 4 yet - there's plenty of time for that. I want to run Dublin and enjoy it. And there are so many more marathons I want to run thereafter. I'd like to think I have 40 more years of marathon training and racing to look forward to, which will see me reap PB's on foot of good training...

So in light of all that, I'm stepping back from P&D 18/<55 with 9 weeks to go until Dublin. I'm going for a 4.15 time. I want to do a good LSR every weekend and some good shorter and slightly faster runs during the week. I'm going to do 35mpw (+/-) and make sure the sessions are good quality. The week of the Dublin Half, I'm going to train smart, rest and go for a PB (currently 1.58.49). The same will go for the Rathfarnham 5k (currently 24.18). I look forward to having some loving feelings back in my legs.

Apologies for the ramble if you've made it this far!!:o

I actually took off my number and threw it away during that race - that is how awful it was!!:eek:

digger2d2

average_runner wrote: »

digger2d2 wrote: »

Dory Dory wrote: »

, I think one secret is - always train with people who are better than you. .

That's what she was doing DD :-) I think I'm redundant now though!

U can train with her now.

On her recovery days

claralara

I’ve started writing this race report quite a few times today but every attempt has been a massive fail. It’s genuinely mostly a blur. Now I’m sitting down with some brain food in the form of chocolate covered rich tea biscuits and a large bar of dairy milk and I’m hoping it’ll jog the memory and give me enough fuel to bore you all to tears

This race had been a goal race of the Berlin Marathon training plan since its inception back in May. In May I set a HM PB of 1:33.35 and the intention was to see whether I’d made any improvement (or otherwise) on that and to put some sort of perspective on the Berlin target. Breaking 1:30 was a target that was in my mind; but I had to be careful that I wasn’t falling into a trap of setting an unrealistic goal based on an arbitrary glory time. Failing that I wanted a PB. In my heart I knew I wanted a top 10 finish. And in my mind I wanted a top 6 finish so TRR could watch that Heineken go down the swanny. I knew I was capable of taking at least two minutes off Kildare on the right day. About 3 weeks ago I ran a hard session (12 miles: 7 easy followed by 5@HMP) – 8:20 being easy pace and 6:50 being HMP. Suffice to say that it was a nightmare of a run. Ran a 6:52, followed by a 6:48 followed by a 7:09 within which I had to stop for about 3 minutes, followed by a 7:08 within which I had to stop about 3 times, after which I just called it a day and trotted home at 8:30 pace. I tried to erase this run from memory as the thought of running 13.1 miles at that hard pace was just ridiculous and incomprehensible and terrifying! Fast forward to race week and a horrible 14 miler on Tuesday during which I could barely hold easy pace (8:22) and was completely empty and broken by the time I finished. I panicked after this and was worried I’d overcooked it and ruined my chances of a good race. I diligently took the rest of the week really handy and did all things sensible (apart from a midweek bottle of wine to calm the nerves...). I was genuinely gutted on Saturday when a recovery run at 9:45 pace did not feel so hot.

Stewarding at the 10 mile race on Saturday morning stirred the competitive spirits and racing excitement and I figured that there was nothing I could do except relax, cop on and run as best as I could.

Myself and Digger headed off bright on early on Sunday morning picking up Meno en route. I had forgotten all of my pace bands – yes, all of them.... I had one for every minute from 1:29 to 1:35. With the help of 3G technology, I decided that I’d get the paces for my dream time (sub 1:30) and if I couldn’t hold it, then I’d just do what I could and my pace wouldn’t matter at that stage. Like a true pro (or a bold child!) I scribbled the important info all the way down my right arm in blue ink. We arrived well on time, registered, used the loo, got excited about the perfect weather conditions, started fretting about the fact that it was hotting up, tied my shoelaces too tight, loosened my shoe laces too much, got a pain in my knee and my ankle, stretched too much, didn’t stretch enough... all of those weird and wonderful things a crazy runner does before a race! It was about half a mile from the car to the start line so we jogged down together to get the legs moving. By the time Meno got his picture taken for the 100 marathon club and the Olympian action on the stage was finished, it was time to hit the start line and brave the unknown. Linda Byrne got the race started and off we went.

I had lined up as far as close to the start line as I could and headed off pretty quickly with the top groups. The first mile was a loop of the town and I was on Meno’s shoulder (he didn’t know as any time he cocked his head in the slightest, I dipped out of his sight!). We ran the first mile at 6:24 and I knew it was too quick. I also knew that it was first mile excitement and it’d settle down so given that I wasn’t feeling it or breathing heavy, I didn’t worry about it. There was another girl right up there and she was kind of annoying me in an ‘invading my personal space’ sort of way so I just backed off and didn’t bother getting into a race with her. Secretly, I knew she had definitely headed out too quickly and wouldn’t last long - I was not falling into a trap to have my race ruined. Sure enough she made it about another half a mile before completely dropping off the pace. The next couple of miles were good. A guy from Donadea was definitely targeting me and I could hear him coming for the big overtake for what seemed like an eternity – he went past me looking really strong but not sounding it. The average pace dropped and remained at 6:36 or so. I noticed this average at about 3.5 miles and thought ‘dear lord, what am I doing?!’. But I couldn’t help it; I figured a couple of seconds here and there wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. At this point, I knew I was the first lady and started day dreaming about a potential win. I swiftly gave myself a severe kick not to be thinking such things – there was still a long way to go and racing that distance is not to be disrespected – anything can happen over 10 miles; hell anything can happen over half a mile. And I’ve had my fair share of nasty races to know that nothing should be taken for granted!

I don’t remember a huge amount of mile 4/5. The Donadea guy who had passed me stopped for a pee (so unfair that guys can do that!) and I went by him. He made me his target again and went flying by me. He made about 200m on me and there he stayed (until the 11th mile....mwah ha ha!) There was a decent drag from mile 5 to 6 and a man who had been behind me caught up and ran with me for a good mile and a half at this stage. There were no words spoken but we both knew we were getting each other up that hill. I think I would have lost a lot more pace on it without the angel in black beside me.

When we got to the 7 mile mark I had the wonderful realisation that I was over halfway and I couldn’t get over how strong I felt. My form was good, my breathing was controlled, I had no nasty stitches threatening and I felt so strong mentally. The guy who I’d run the previous mile and a half with kicked on at that point and I let him be. I was happy with my pace, which was averaging about 6:39, and I knew there was still a hell of a lot more work to do. At this point I was just focusing on the guys up ahead and maintaining a steady strong pace. Again, it’s all a bit of a blur...

I popped a gel at about the 8 mile mark. I didn’t feel like I needed it but better safe than sorry. I was sensible enough to know that I was putting my body through a tough effort and it must need refuelling. I was a little worried that it might not go down well running at the pace I was, but the stomach behaved thank god. I nearly choked on a mouthful of water at about the 8.5 mile mark and thought it was game over. I recovered from that but it turned me off having any more water.
At the 9 mile mark, I started to allow myself enjoy the fact that I was first lady. Until I looked over my shoulder and spied someone about 500m behind. I convinced myself it was a lady who was using me as a pacer and who was going to bail right on by when I was shot. I started to think how annoyed I’d be having pretty much led from the start, to be sniped like that so that spurred me right on. At this point, I wanted to win!

There was a turnaround point at about 10 miles and I was keeping a good eye out for Meno who I knew was a couple of minutes ahead of me but I didn’t spot him. When I didn’t see any other women at the turnaround, I got a bit more confident. There was a short sharp climb at this point and I just put the foot down and barrelled on. The pace was at 6:43 at this stage and I knew that if nothing went horribly wrong that I had 1:30 in the bag. I had a good minute up on goal time which was reassuring. When I rounded the corner up towards the 11 mile mark I spied my target – the Donadea guy who’d passed me earlier. Twice. I could see he was struggling and I knew I could go past him and maintain a strong pace to put a bit of distance between us – and so I did passing another guy at the same time.

I think it was about the 11.5 mile mark when I spotted the lead car holding up traffic, driving on the wrong side of the road. Not being great at maths, it took a moment to put 2 and 2 together and realise that it was there for me. It was absolutely mortifying. When I relayed my feelings at this point to the lads, I think they nearly choked on their lunch – basically, I was so worried that I was holding up the car, and that they’d be cursing me, that I put the foot down and just went hell for leather for the last stretch. I could see the time ticking over and that took my mind off any pain (I say that because I don’t remember it but I’m sure there must have been some!) Running up the finishing straight towards the banner, watching the clock counting down, I was elated at the thoughts that I was going to break 1:28 – break 1:28 and win?! Incredible! Finishing was just hilarious – I couldn’t believe what I’d achieved and I was so delighted.

I can’t get over how strong I felt. I am so used to demons and pain and doubts during races, and none of them visited me during this race. I couldn’t have dreamed for a better race and I will not be taking it for granted or forgetting it in a hurry. The podium photographs were wholly embarrassing (especially when I realised I still had my 1:30 paces scrawled all over my arms... – how professional! I don’t think Linda Byrne has anything to worry about just yet!)

I’d like to thank Digdig for the loan of his blue pen, the present of my go-faster kinvaras, and for cooking my dinner on Saturday night. I probably wouldn’t have broken 2 hours without those individual god-sends...

Chip time: 1:27.48
1st (very extremely happy!) female over the line

claralara

Monday 27th August (4 miles recovery)
4 @ 9:26
Grand run. A little tender and tired (and probably shouldn't have polished off the jar of nutella with a spoon before heading out the door!) but feel great given yesterday's race

digger2d2

Dear Jesus, I should have known she was writing a race report when she headed off to the kitchen 3 hours ago and there are no purple snacks in the biscuit tin!

Right, I'm going to read said report, I should be close to M50 by the time I'm finished

chinguetti

For those of us too lazy to look, we want photos:D

RacoonQueen

digger2d2 wrote: »

Right, I'm going to read said report, I should be close to M50 by the time I'm finished

Does her report have magical deaging properites?

neilc

Brilliant CL, well done!