Not Quite Four Laps

KielyUnusual · 15-09-2013 06:45PM

Peckham wrote: »

Did I pass you along North Road in Phoenix Park at around 12.30 today? Thought it was you, but had the head down battling into that wind!

Yea, I caught you pretty late too. I was fumbling with my mp3 and when I looked up, you were zooming by. You were moving at a fair old pace. I always hated that stretch in to the wind along the North Road, which is why I went clockwise around the park for a change today. Not a great day for trying to hit any sort of pace. Long run wise, it was was just about manageable.

KielyUnusual · 17-09-2013 08:10PM

Monday

6 miles @ 6.49/mi

Making a bit more of a commitment to get out regularly from now on with the Novice XC coming up shortly. This was the first real tester. A cold cycle out from town after work didn't leave me wanting to leave straight away again. Just didn't think about it and as per usual it was enjoyable enough once I got out.

Tuesday

w/u, 6 X 800 w/75s rec (2.33, 2.29, 2.28, 2.29, 2.29, 2.18), w/d

Really good group of 4 doing this one tonight, all of a similar level with three of us going to be running in the novice XC in two weeks time. It was raining but not too much wind so good conditions for a track session. We all kept together fairly well and I was never pushing too hard at any stage so really happy with the session.

pa4 · 17-09-2013 08:31PM

Thats some 800m session, I thought I was going well with my 5 the other day!

smmoore79 · 18-09-2013 10:40AM

Were ya sprinting that last rep?!?!? Who's on the Novice team this year? Pity I cant do it as theyre great craic :rolleyes: Its great to see the club having some depth in quality now. Should be some good sessions after the marathon when me, R+ and John F are back to join you guys. We'll be massacre-ing each other on the track next November

KielyUnusual · 18-09-2013 11:43AM

smmoore79 wrote: »

Were ya sprinting that last rep?!?!? Who's on the Novice team this year? Pity I cant do it as theyre great craic :rolleyes: Its great to see the club having some depth in quality now. Should be some good sessions after the marathon when me, R+ and John F are back to join you guys. We'll be massacre-ing each other on the track next November

I'm beginning to think that I went wrong on the last lap. Didn't stop the Garmin so just extrapolated the time from the graph. It's only 7 seconds outside my 800 PB so it was more likely something in the 3.20's. I wasn't uncomfortable enough to be running that quick. Not sure who exactly is in the team but I'm pretty sure John, Brendan, Seán M and myself are down for it anyway. Some really good strength and depth there.

That was some session you put in yesterday evening. Was it R+ or John F you were running with? Looking forward to see how you get on in the Half at the weekend. I'm sure you'll put in a cracking time with the form you're in. I don't envy you having to race those final 3 miles though. They can be very tough if you're really pushing it.

thewolf_ie · 21-09-2013 03:20PM

Thanks for today you made them last few miles easier for me! Nice to meet you.

KielyUnusual · 22-09-2013 08:45AM

thewolf_ie wrote: »

Thanks for today you made them last few miles easier for me! Nice to meet you.

No worries. It probably wasn't the most opportune place for a chat. You seemed very comfortable despite your protestations otherwise. Best of luck in the full now.

thewolf_ie · 22-09-2013 09:50AM

KielyUnusual wrote: »

No worries. It probably wasn't the most opportune place for a chat. You seemed very comfortable despite your protestations otherwise. Best of luck in the full now.

Cheers, my heart rate monitor was reporting a 5k effort. I think that was mentally screwing with me. Did I seem like I was at 90%???

KielyUnusual · 22-09-2013 10:05AM

thewolf_ie wrote: »

Cheers, my heart rate monitor was reporting a 5k effort. I think that was mentally screwing with me. Did I seem like I was at 90%???

I don't know much about HR monitors but as a rule of thumb, if you are able to talk in the last mile of a half marathon then you can probably push a little harder

.

thewolf_ie · 22-09-2013 10:08AM

KielyUnusual wrote: »

I don't know much about HR monitors but as a rule of thumb, if you are able to talk in the last mile of a half marathon then you can probably push a little harder .

I'm so lazy

smmoore79 · 22-09-2013 03:21PM

KielyUnusual wrote: »

I'm beginning to think that I went wrong on the last lap. Didn't stop the Garmin so just extrapolated the time from the graph. It's only 7 seconds outside my 800 PB so it was more likely something in the 3.20's. I wasn't uncomfortable enough to be running that quick. Not sure who exactly is in the team but I'm pretty sure John, Brendan, Seán M and myself are down for it anyway. Some really good strength and depth there.

That was some session you put in yesterday evening. Was it R+ or John F you were running with? Looking forward to see how you get on in the Half at the weekend. I'm sure you'll put in a cracking time with the form you're in. I don't envy you having to race those final 3 miles though. They can be very tough if you're really pushing it.

yeah john f. hel be some man on the xc team. half went ok. heat played a serious factor.

KielyUnusual · 25-09-2013 08:26PM

Wednesday

14.5 @ 7.24/mi

My throat was feeling a bit iffy at work but I thought I felt okay generally. I started home from work but when I got to the top of Killiney hill, I couldn't swallow and generally felt pretty bad. I resolved to just hop on a bus and head home but I felt better as I headed downhill and just continued on. In retrospect, I probably should have called it a day. Throat got pretty bad and I had to take the following day off work

Thursday & Friday

Off

Saturday

Half Pacing (1.29.55:D), 6 mile w/d

A good days pacing down in the park with all the Boardsies. The crowds made it a little tough to keep an even pace for the first few miles but it got easier after that. The 6 mile warm down with blockic after was tough and the hamstrings were a little tender for a few days after.

Sunday

Off

Monday

6 @ 6.58/mi

Hamstrings still a bit tight after the weekend. First muscle soreness in a while now. Got better as the run went on.

Tuesday

6 X 800 w/ 400 active recovery (~5 min/mi ave. pace)

This is possibly the most quality session I've ever done. Five of us headed out to the park and the 800m was a full lap around the hurling pitches. The pace was very quick for the first one and I didn't think I'd be able to keep it up but I felt stronger as the session went on and the times got better. Relative to the lads I was running with, I did really well and it's a big confidence boost ahead of the XC in two weeks. Hopefully run the inaugural St Anne's Parkrun at the weekend too and see where I am. Long time since a proper race now.

thewolf_ie · 26-09-2013 02:57PM

Oh that session on Tuesday looks great!

KielyUnusual · 30-09-2013 10:30AM

Wednesday to Friday

No running

This was bad form. I wasn't even that busy otherwise, it was just a bit of laziness.

Saturday

St Anne's Parkrun - 16.08

After a poor weeks training, albeit with one really good session, I wasn't too sure what to expect from this one. It was a lovely day for it and there was a good crowd developing already when I got out there with about 15 minutes to spare. As ever with the Parkrun, there was a really good atmosphere in the place and I saw a few Raheny singlets so I figured there'd be some faster runners too. I did a one or two mile warm up, wished Killerz best of luck with the event and after his briefing we were off.

Immediately the two Raheny lads and another girl (whom I later found out was also a Raheny runner) lead out . The pace was pretty hot and I let them open a small bit of a gap. I passed the Raheny girl shortly in to the race and then made my way past one of the Raheny lads after about half of a kilometre. I was 10 metres behind the leader and this was as close as I got. The course was very flat and the lead cyclist (Mrs Killerz, I believe) did a great job of clearing the paths. There was one situation after about 1.5k where we had to cut a corner slightly to avoid a bunch of kids preparing for training. It wasn't really much of an issue though and something you can't really avoid in a public park.

It was a two lap course and after the first lap, I was still feeling reasonably OK. After about 3k though, the legs were really starting to feeling it. This kilometre was all about fighting the urge not to stop. The first place Raheny runner was stretching away all the time but he was in sight so that was a good motivation to keep going. Finally we got on to the final stetch and I could see the finish area (albeit very far away). This stretch was mentally tough. It seemed like you weren't making much progress at all, like the finishing chute was just a mirage reflecting off the long tarmac road ahead. As I got to a few hundred metres to go, I had a look over my shoulder just in case but no one was in sight. Brought it home and was extremely relieved to cross the line. That was tough.

After the run, I met up with Belcarra and we were going for a short warmdown but then my stomach just said no, so I had to sit down for a bit. Eventually got a mile or two in about an hour later after the belly had settled down a bit.

Great to have this Parkrun on the doorstep and definitely will be a regular feature over the winter. Kudos to Killerz and the rest of the organisers for getting this up and running.

Sunday

6 miles @ 6.44/mi

I was surprised at this run after very little sleep and much unhealthy stuff on the day before. Some tight muscles after the 5k but nothing major.

belcarra · 30-09-2013 10:58AM

Savage time again Mike but if I was you I'd have just settled in behind that leading lady and savoured my run!
I think that was your stomach giving out to you for making such a foolish mistake...

Krusty_Clown · 30-09-2013 11:01AM

That's a phenomenal time. I remember not too long ago that you were trying to break 17 minutes in a Parkrun. What's the course like?

KielyUnusual · 30-09-2013 01:18PM

belcarra wrote: »

Savage time again Mike but if I was you I'd have just settled in behind that leading lady and savoured my run!
I think that was your stomach giving out to you for making such a foolish mistake...

I think you're right;)

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

That's a phenomenal time. I remember not too long ago that you were trying to break 17 minutes in a Parkrun. What's the course like?

Thanks KC. If I remember correctly, I wasn't trying to break 17 minutes, I was being lead to believe that I could by yourself:D. I'm delighted with the time obviously. I think the reduced mileage and really going for the club sessions has made a big difference. It will be interesting to see how you get on when you take a break from the marathons this Spring and maybe adopt a similar approach. We'll have to so some more sessions in Kilbogget after DCM. I reckon without the marathon in our legs, we'll be able to have a good craic at the track races next summer.

The course is really good and probably a bit faster than Malahide. As Belcarra said in the event thread, there's a pretty severe 1 metre climb a kilometre in:rolleyes:. The Raheny club are involved with it so I'd say there will be a bit of quality there most weekends.

KielyUnusual · 30-09-2013 02:13PM

Monday

8 miles @ 6.45/mi

After making my way down to Tipp yesterday for our club's first county semi-final in 25 years, which we lost:(, I had the day off today so was able to take to the country roads. A hilly start to this one but it makes a nice change to the pancake flat routes I normally run along Clontarf.

theboyblunder · 30-09-2013 07:10PM

Outstanding 5k race ku. Super stuff

KielyUnusual · 30-09-2013 09:17PM

theboyblunder wrote: »

Outstanding 5k race ku. Super stuff

Cheers S. Great to see you on the comeback trail yourself.

KielyUnusual · 02-10-2013 08:21PM

Tuesday

3 X 800 w/ 75s rec (2.32, 2.24, 2.26), 3 X 600 w/ 60s rec (1.49, 1.44, 1.48), 3 X 300 w/ 100m slow walk recovery (47s av.)

A really good session down the club in what started out with a bit of a downpour but then eased off. The second 600 was the toughest but looking at the times, it was a good bit faster than the other two so to be expected. There was a good group doing it and there were some really quick 300s to finish it up. Nice last session to get in before the XC at the weekend.

Wednesday

5 miles @ 6.53/mi

Thank Christ for the showers at work on a day like this.

pconn062 · 02-10-2013 09:15PM

That's some session KU, you're gonna tear up the cross country this year.

smmoore79 · 03-10-2013 08:16AM

Best of luck in the Dublin Novices; you'll be fine. My advice would be not to get caught up at the start. Just sit in behind the lead group and conserve some energy. If ya feel you can push on after a mile then up the pace. If not, then hang on for dear life to that group! I might head out and cheer yiz on, what time does it start?

KielyUnusual · 03-10-2013 09:22AM

smmoore79 wrote: »

Best of luck in the Dublin Novices; you'll be fine. My advice would be not to get caught up at the start. Just sit in behind the lead group and conserve some energy. If ya feel you can push on after a mile then up the pace. If not, then hang on for dear life to that group! I might head out and cheer yiz on, what time does it start?

I think Michael said that the men's race starts at 2. Dublin Athletics website is down so can't confirm that. Thanks for the advice. I was just about to ask for some insider knowledge. That kind of strategy would suit me perfect. I'm a bit of a novice at the XC so it will be a learning experience anyway. If the weather stays like this, it could be interesting.

smmoore79 · 03-10-2013 01:02PM

KielyUnusual wrote: »

I think Michael said that the men's race starts at 2. Dublin Athletics website is down so can't confirm that. Thanks for the advice. I was just about to ask for some insider knowledge. That kind of strategy would suit me perfect. I'm a bit of a novice at the XC so it will be a learning experience anyway. If the weather stays like this, it could be interesting.

If ya go off hard in XC, the legs get so tired compared to a road race and the pace steadily falls a lot quicker. So deffo keep it in the tank for the first 5-10 mins before trying to catch people! Tuck in behind the lead group and shelter a while. The 1 exeption is the National novice where ya have to go hard for the first 200-400 metres just to get a place as its like a traffic jam

KielyUnusual · 10-10-2013 09:05PM

Thursday

Off

Friday

6 miles @ 6.47/mi

Lovely day all day and then it starts teeming down a few minutes in to my run. Still, it wasn't too bad.

Saturday

Off

Sunday

Novice XC - DNF

Well, well, well. Had the most relaxing weekend leading up to this. No drinking and two early nights on the Friday and the Saturday. I'd ran some really good sessions and the 5k from the weekend before had me thinking that I'd do really well in this. We had a very good team too and we were confident of a medal so everything was lining up perfectly it seemed.

Cycled down and spotted the Cru crew straight away. We all did a few laps of the course for a warm up and a bit of a recce. It was pancake flat and the footing was quite firm all round. A bit tight in a few spots but other than that, you couldn't envisage any problems.

We did a dynamic warm up with a few strides just before the start and then we lined up. There was a good team spirit on the line with much slaps on the backs and words of encouragement. We were called forward and then it was a bee line for the first corner. I was worried about this because I can sometimes be a bit slow off the line but here I settled into a group just behind the leaders exactly where I wanted to be. There was a bit of pushing and shoving on the first lap (mainly posturing) but it was largely uneventful with no changes in position. Going in to the second lap, I was feeling good but then my legs started to tire really quickly. I was struggling to keep the same pace but tried to relax and push through it. It didn't get any easier and going in to the third lap, I was passed by a few people and then I just pulled up.

The main reason I stopped was because I was in fifth place on the team and really struggling so I didn't think I'd contribute much by continuing. It was a stupid decision and I immediately regretted it but the damage was done. It's not something I'll do again too lightly anyway. The coach gave me a bit of a telling off afterwards but thankfully we still finished in 2nd place after some great performances so no major damage done.

Monday

6 miles @ 6.35/mi

Fastish run down by Clontarf. Groin muscle in my right leg has been a little tender the last few weeks and I could feel it after this run.

Tuesday

7 miles steady

Went down to the club but we were instructed to take an easy run after the XC race. Took an out and back route down through Sandymount. Again, the groin was feeling a little tender towards the end.

Wednesday

6 miles @ 7.20/mi

Had planned a medium long run home from Bray but my groin got very sore after coming off Killiney hill. My running gait was being affected so I decided to stop. Hopped on a train and headed home.

Thursday

3 X 8mins hard (2 mins rec) Pace: 5.27, 5.38, 5.36

The coach at the club has decided to send out a weekly plan for the XC group consisting of a Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday session. We're all of a similar level so I think it will be really good to get as many of these in as possible. A couple of us are running the BHAA XC at the weekend so we took the supposedly easier option of 3 X 8 mins hard. The first one was much too fast and we all agreed that we needed to slow down for the next two. These fitted better in to the comfortably hard category and weren't too taxing ahead of the weekend's race. The biggest positive from the evening was that my groin was only slightly tender after the session and abandoning the run yesterday seems to have worked out well in the long run.:D

pconn062 · 10-10-2013 09:31PM

Hard luck KU, just a bad day at the office. It is very easy to want to quit in cross country races, much easier than in road races in my opinion. I think it is something to do with the laps or something. Nothing worse than feeling bad and having three more laps to do with everyone being able to see you suffer and fall back. It's a learning experience anyway.

KielyUnusual · 10-10-2013 09:38PM

pconn062 wrote: »

Hard luck KU, just a bad day at the office. It is very easy to want to quit in cross country races, much easier than in road races in my opinion. I think it is something to do with the laps or something. Nothing worse than feeling bad and having three more laps to do with everyone being able to see you suffer and fall back. It's a learning experience anyway.

I think you're right about the laps alright. It's easier to give up when it'a a choice between a 100 metre walk to your bag or two laps of pain. Lesson learnt anyway and we'll move on. Hopefully redeem myself somewhat at the weekend. Unfortunately I'll miss the Leinster due to the marathon but the Nationals in Waterford should be good. Will you be racing both as well? Good to see you injury free and running really well these days.

pconn062 · 10-10-2013 10:07PM

KielyUnusual wrote: »

I think you're right about the laps alright. It's easier to give up when it'a a choice between a 100 metre walk to your bag or two laps of pain. Lesson learnt anyway and we'll move on. Hopefully redeem myself somewhat at the weekend. Unfortunately I'll miss the Leinster due to the marathon but the Nationals in Waterford should be good. Will you be racing both as well? Good to see you injury free and running really well these days.

I hope to run the Leinster novice alright, heard it's a nice course over in Dunboyne. Don't think I will be at the nationals though, Waterford is just a bit too far away from me (about 2.5 hours). Enjoy the race at the weekend.

smmoore79 · 11-10-2013 08:07PM

Thats xc for ya ku! Itl sap the energy from your legs rather suddenly. ya just gotta brazen it out even if your pace has gone. coz ya never know, 1 of the lads in front may pull up injured and then ur back in a scoring position. im sure youl bounce back and run a savage intermediates xc :-)

Not Quite Four Laps

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