"Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them"

Saturday 24th May

On arrival at the le Parc there was a quick dash to find a toilet by many. A concrete outhouse type construction awaited us and those lovely stand-up options and 3rd world conditions. Oh boy! It was a bit easier for us guys to handle it but I pitied the poor girls especially since the one I went into was blocked and overflowing (before I used it!). Once we had got that experience out of the way we ventured over to the start line which was not far inside the gates of the park. It was a private park, not unlike St Annes or Marlay at first glance but less open spaces and more trees.

The start line was easily identifiable as one of those inflatable arches and the registration table was close by where we picked up our numbers. It wasn’t chip timing but there was a barcode on each number which would be later scanned as we crossed the finish line. We got a few obligatory photos done and then set about doing our own warm ups. The start line was on a grass section which looked like it had been cut especially for us out of some longer rough grass. Running along the first section of the course made it clear that this was going to be interesting. It was extremely uneven underfoot and a couple of steep downhills and tough uphills in first few hundred metres meant one would have to be very careful not to go over on an ankle or something. I quickly made my mind up that this was probably not going to be a pb course . The instruction sheet we had received the night before which described the course as “hilly” was looking like a reality and not lost in translation from the French version on the other side of the sheet.

As we lined up I decided I would go out quickly just to get a good position and then try and settle into a comfortable rhythm. A few photos from the organisers and then a short countdown and off we went. I had gotten a tip that the English guy was the one to look out for and was favourite to win this race. I got out quickly to avoid any bustle even though there were just the 90 runners in the field but I had no idea what was ahead of me beyond the few hundred metres that I had sussed out in my warm up and the map we received in advance didn’t provide any real clues about what to expect on the ground.

I knew I was going faster than I needed to after the first half mile so I slowed down a bit to try find a comfortable pace that I thought I could hold onto. I should have been more conservative though especially since I didn’t know what was ahead of me. Mile 1: 6:47 FFS slow down man!

Mile 2 brought us through undulating woodland with branches to avoid taking your head off and at one point I had to duck under a wire fence that looked like it had been tied up especially to let us through. Also in this section was a short decline which led us down to a marshall signalling to slow down and when I got there for first time I realised why. Here there was a sharp turn over a bridge which can be best described as a wide plank with some batons on it for grip. All very interesting and would definitely have appealed to the IMRA heads on here but I was hating the slip sliding in the mucky bits. Probably because I was jus looking forward to doing a fast time and now I knew I wouldn't. Mile 2 : 7:37. A bit more sensible but this was annoying me because this is more like my HM pace. But it was to get worse. Next stage of the race brought us onto some sections of road...hooray! and then back onto this mucky trail...Boo! But this section was a long drag up and I wouldn't have minded that but it was a case of jumping from side to side trying to find a spot where you could find some grip. This was starting to p1$$ me off but everyone had to deal with the same conditions so just got on with it. By the time the half way point came I was pretty tired so just tried to keep a good momentum going and see how I got on. Mile 3: 8:16 and I didn't check my watch at halfway to see my 5k split. In fact I think I only looked at my watch once after this not long before the finish. Anyway back around the same loop again and once we got back as far as the long slippy slidey drag I was passed out by a team mate. I gave him a shout of encouragement to keep going and told him he was going well. What annoyed me afterwards was that I didn't really give it a second thought to try chase him...why not? I had mentally decided this wasn't my race and gave up on it and I'm pretty annoyed with myself over that. I was only 26 seconds behind my team mate in the end so I know now if I had of HTFU'd up I could have had him. He was 10 yrs my junior and 4 stone lighter but it still annoys me now , not that he beat me but more that I gave in so easily.
Anyway, slogged up that hill and finshed the second loop after being passed out by at least 10 runners in last km. It was won in 36:xx by some French dude so even the English favourite had an off day.

Remaining splits:7:59,7:57,8:17,(7:37)

General feeling amongst other runners that I spoke to after was that the course was tough and probably worth 3-4 mins on a flatter road only course so I'll try take something from that. It was a race that I enjoyed but hated at same time.

Placed 41/90 finishing in 47:42(official time) Only a minute outside my current PB. It'll have to wait till another day. On the plus side one of our ladies placed 3rd in her classification so we all had something to toast later on, several times!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/507116257



Total for day incl w/up and c/d 7.28miles

WTD|28.31
MTD|111.73
YTD|790.33

Thursday 29th May

Felt pretty jaded starting out on this one but didn't get a chance to stretch down properly last night after my session so this was just the tonic.

3.7miles @9:59

WTD|20.37
MTD|132.1
YTD|810.7

Sunday 1st June

Long run from the club this morning. Was expecting rain but ended up a really warm morning and was parched by end of it as I didn't carry any water with me. Intention was to do around 14 but did a slight bit more. Was pretty happy with run overall. Some soreness near end in one of my calves so did plenty of stretching and will do a bit of foam rolling later on too. Kept the pace pretty even for the most part but probably should have been closer to 9min/miles .This was my longest run since London so good to be back up at the longer distances again before marathon plan kicks in at the end of the month.

15.33miles @8:52


WTD|42.94
MTD|15.33
YTD|833.27

Tuesday 3rd June

What was supposed to be an easy run developed into an easyish progression run mainly because I got caught in what can only be described as a monsoon. My shoes were getting heavier and heavier with the rain. I don't think I've ever been as soaked as that so the pace picked up in order to get home a bit quicker. Had been aiming to keep this in around the 9min/mi mark but ended up like this:

9:49,8:55,9:02,9:07,8:45,8:43,8:37,8:34,(8:18)

Got a few and gave a few nods of empathy to/from cyclists and runners alike as we all battled through the downpour, probably all thinking the same thing, 'I must be mad':)


8.18miles @8:50

WTD|11.38
MTD|26.71
YTD|844.65

Wednesday 4th June

Session tonight with club. Absolutely shattered this week as I have training course with work and exam tomorrow and Friday and when I came home this all I wanted to do was sleep!

Managed to get myself out the door anyway and headed up in enough time to get a couple of miles in what I now call "Ososlo Park":pac:;) where I decided to explore a little and managed to get lost in around the apartments. Found my way back soon enough though and back to the track where I had a few minutes to spare. 2 miles warmup done at nice and easy 9:12 pace

After some dynamic and static stretching I felt a twinge in my hamstring so was a bit worred going into the session as to how it might hold up. Wasn't sore just felt a twinge that suggested it might tighten up so knew I would have to mind it a bit. The session was to be 2 x(5 x 300) 100m jog recovery between reps and about 5 mins including 1 lap jog recovery between sets.

As I said took it handy enough for the first set. Not even sure if we are at the right markers to be honest for 300. garmin says 0.19miles but anyway wasn't too fussed about it. First set were probably, actually no, were definitely conservative but no harm I suppose as I was minding the hammer;

66,66,65,63,61

Few mins rest which included a lap jog and over for last set. Knew I could put a bit more effort into these ones so upped the pace a bit;

59,57,57,54,53

Was starting to tire for the last two alright so happy with how the second set went. Clearly the first set was way too conservative.

I've entered the race series in park up to Dublin half and will be entering the Rock 'n Roll half too. Considering the Athlone 3/4 schedule permitting.

The trinity races have been cancelled so that's my mile attempt gone now so might try go for a decent time in park run on Saturday instead. Recovery tomorrow and rest on Friday.

Total for tonight : 6.67miles


WTD|18.05
MTD|33.38
YTD|851.32

Unofficial time...20:28.....thrilled with that. Report ltr