Not Quite Four Laps

menoscemo wrote: »

No beer mile training :eek:?

I'm not very well going to divulge all my secrets in what could be one of the most competitive races of the year. I downed 2 beers in ~40 seconds each last night. This is definitely going to be a big weakness for me. You always perform better on race day so hopefully I can knock a few seconds off that this evening. Sub 8 looking like a bit of a challenge. The fact that every off licence around Drumcondra seems to have been shut down is not helping with the training

nosnagaoithe wrote: »

Great log KU - seems like you're relaxed, just drifting along after London....what's next serious target?

A bit too relaxed really. I had intended on giving a real go at the Dunshaughlin 10k this month but I won't get the time I was aiming for at this stage. Might make a short plan for the Phoenix Park 10 mile and focus on that. I think 10 miles and up are the distances that suit me best anyway.

Friday evening

Boards.ie inaugural beer mile 8.40 6th place

Had visited the dentist in the morning with a minor toothache and when the anesthetic wore off in the afternoon, it had become a major toothache:mad:. Nothing to be done but knock back a few Nurofens and get chugging some beers. I had contemplated dropping out so when I finally did up an leave I was cutting things a bit tight. Called in to three off licences before I finally found my much coveted Mooseheads in the Dunnes on St Stephens Green. I was furtively glancing at my watch the whole Luas trip out but I arrived at the park with about 5 minutes to spare and despite the weather there was a good crowd there and everyone was in good spirits.

We all packed our gear in the tent, very generously supplied by Kurt Godel and having lined up our beers we were given the go ahead by DrQuirky. I had trialled out a few different bottle openers on the Thursday night and went for the Homer Simpson one. It was a good choice. No issues here. First beer went down similar to my training efforts (~40 seconds) and I was off, maybe 7th or 8th to finish drinking. Took it easy on the first lap so I wouldn't be out of breath for the second beer. This one was a bit slower than the first but this was to be expected. Beers were a bit warm as they were shelf beers from the offy. Some froth issues as a result of this but nothing I couldn't cope with. Second lap was a controlled effort too and now I was in to unchartered territory with the third beer. This was going to be the make or break point. Surprised myself with my drinking ability and downed it in a similar time to the second. At this stage I was pretty confident that I would make it without getting sick. I upped the pace a small bit on this lap. Final beer went down with no issues and I gunned it as fast as I could for the last lap, probably about 70 seconds. Done.

Great craic and a must do race for any serious runners out there.

Saturday

6 miles @ 6m32s/mile

Let's consider this a penalty lap for my actions in the after, after party:eek:. Apologies Meno.

Sunday

6 miles @ 6m52s/mile + 10 min session

It was a fairly miserable evening by the time I got out for this. Plan was to do a short run followed by some sort of speed session in the park. Ran out to Bull Island and back for the easy run and then in to Fairview Park for the session. Had read about this session in a book about Kenyan running. It's basically run on a soccer pitch and you sprint the diagonal and jog the length. I set 10 minutes as the time limit for this and off I went. Main thing was to concentrate on keeping the knees high and the arms pumping as I got more tired. It was tough going but a few more sessions like this before my next 400m can only help. Sub 62 is the new sub 60;).

Monday

9 miles @ easy pace

Stayed in Bray after work and ran down to the promenade and up the cliffs for the trail to Greystones. It was a perfect evening for it and the scenery was immense. Wish I had brought my camera for the 'Photos of where you run' thread but another time perhaps.

Tuesday

1 miles @ 4m52s/mile:D

Accepted the open invite from BeepBeep67 to head out to Greystones for the invitational mile. Perfect weather for a short race like this and I was glad of the warm weather with the hour long delay before the race. After doing my best to distract BB from his camera work duties, we were eventually called over to the start line. Timaay was entered in this race too. He was going for the 4.3x's so I was happy enough to use him as a pacer for the first lap and stick 2 or 3 seconds behind him. After a bad start (excellently captured by BeepBeep), we were off

I worked my way around a few runners in the first half and finished the lap a couple of seconds behind Timaay, so happy enough. 75 seconds was called out for the first lap (409m). Second lap, I pushed past another runner on the back straight and kicked on. My legs were feeling it here but I'm always struggling a little at this point in short races so I was expecting this and struggled through. On the third lap, I was three or four metres behind two runners up ahead. I pushed on and just made it round them on the bend coming in to the home straight. Took the bell and I was determined to keep the pace as fast as I could and not get overtaken. My lungs were burning going round the final bend but I kept the pace up and was delighted to hear them call 4.52 as I crossed the line. There was a great race up front between Timaay and one of his clubmates and he ran an excellent time in the 4.3x's. Really enjoyable race and always good to get chatting to a few fellow boardsies too.

smmoore79 wrote: »

Think you'll have to invest in a Cru singlet!!!

I've got the Cru singlet of course. I'll be proudly donning it in Dunshaughlin this weekend. Will you be running?

Thursday

1 mile w/u, 5 miles @ ~6 min/mile, 1 mile w/d

Went down to the club today but went for a 5 mile tempo instead of the usual mile repeats in the park. Small group doing this. smmoore slunk off after a few laps and there was just three of us. It was a good session but I didn't go too hard with the race on Saturday. More importantly, I got my free ticket for the Europeans at the weekend:D.

RunForestRun wrote: »

Nice session KU, you don't seem to have lost that much sharpness at all. What's the goal for Dunshaughlin? Was thinkin of doing it, but going to persevere with my hile mileage for another couple of weeks.

It's coming back alright RFR but it's been a slow enough process. I'm aiming to get into the 34's at the weekend but closer to 35 or to 33, I'd find it very hard to call.
Pity I won't see you down there but eye on the big prize, I suppose.

Thursday

5 miles @ 6m30s/mile

This is normally a session day so I ran this lunchtime run a bit quicker than usual, finishing up with two ~ 6 min miles. I regretted it when I got back to the office though. I was still sweating after my shower and had to go straight in to a meeting, where I was parched. Think I'll stick to the easy running at lunchtime in future. Especially in this weather.

Friday

Bit too wrecked after some going away drinks for some workmates the previous evening. The impending trek over the Wicklow mountains was on my mind too, I'll not lie;).

Boards.ie Wicklow Way Run

I like my long runs generally but this was something special again. Got the bus out to Marlay and I was there an hour early. Always plan for the worst when it comes to Dublin Bus. I had contemplated running the Parkrun at an easy pace before the event itself. It's unlikely I would have run it easy enough so I think I made the right decision in giving it a miss. Chilling out in the sun, b.harte came up and introduced himself and then bit by bit, the full group arrived on. Lead off by organiser supreme Belcarra, we were on our way.

The first mile leaving the park and running under the M50, did not give any indication of the beautiful scenery that lay ahead. The first climb came very soon and while it wasn't too steep, it was constant and none too easy. Once to the top, there was an amazing few back over Dublin. There was a good sense of the distance we had travelled on the top of the third climb, when this same view looked a long, long way away. The descent coming off this was pretty steep and I was constantly worried that my momentum was going to take me in to the back of someone. There were some close calls.

The second climb was similar to the first in gradient but you were really away from civilization now. There was an impressive view over Powerscourt waterfall on the way. Why pay €8 to see this when you can just run 10 miles and over two mountains for the same privilege? People these days. Another fast descent and we were dpwn by the river. I had travelled light, bring just two 500ml bottles of water so I was glad of the opportunity for a re-fill. The water tasted absolutely amazing to be honest. I got a good drink in, filled up the bottles and now it was just a matter of tackling the final climb. It didn't look too bad from the bottom but it was very steep in parts and seemed to go on and on. We were glad to get to the top and took plenty of time to take in what was a pretty epic vista over Wicklow and Dublin. The distance was starting to make itself felt in the legs on the way down. A brief stop by Lough Dan on the way and we were on the flat all the way to the Roundwood.

We made a bit of a mistake here in taking the main road. It was narrow and very busy. Things got very dodgy with cars flying by and an ambulance came screaming by at one stage. I think we all thought it was the gardaí going to give out to us for obstructing traffic. We upped the pace a bit and I reckon we were all strongly willing the town to come in to sight by now. We got there eventually and it was straight in to the pub to get the drinks in. Eventually the full gang had arrived. There were some tired heads but not for too long once the drinks were got in. Judging from the reactions of everyone, I don't think this run will be a once off.

Sunday

10 miles @ 6m51s/mile

I was a bit stiff today so initial plan was to just stretch out the legs a little bit. Once I got going though, I'd never found this type of pace easier. I would probably consider 7-7.15 my easy pace but even at this pace my legs will tire at some point in the run. Not today though. I'm not sure what to put this down to but I'll take it. I'm not going to be experimenting with any 25 mile mountain runs before a race, that's for sure:D. The soreness will probably come tomorrow.