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Run run run run run run run....
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I entered this one a few weeks ago, felt I had been progressing well on the 5ks recently but wondered would that speed translate to the half marathon? We made a weekend of it anyway, headed down the Friday evening, grabbed a bit of grub and some live music (just the one bottle of beer keeping it safe) and got to bed early enough, disaster of a sleep though in a dingy hostel as everywhere else booked out pretty quickly.
Race morning, up at 6:45am, cup of coffee and off I ran down to the Gleneagles hotel to catch the 7:30am bus to the start line at Molls gap. I got another 10 minute warm up in when I got there and was feeling pretty relaxed but still a half an hour to start so I moved away from the crowd for a bit of solitude and sat on a rock to listen to music and enjoy the scenery. Soon I headed for the line, chatted with a lad from Donore for a while and before I knew it we were off.
The aim today was a 76:30, over 2 minutes off my last half in Cork 7 weeks ago. Ambitious I know but I had the advantage of two fast downhill miles and I felt I was in better shape so an average of around 5:50 min/mile would get me there.
Miles 1-3
The plan was to keep it conservative for the first 3 miles at 6 minute pace before the big downhill. I went out feeling a slight pain in my side but it quickly subsided and I settled into a comfortable rhythm. A few went out quite quickly, one in particularly in an Amphibian King vest who was out of sight after the first corner. I was sitting in about 8th or 9th, the first mile was slightly downhill and hit that comfortably in 5:52. The course levelled out now with a few small drags starting to appear. I passed a few lads who were slowing and then saw another 3 ahead of me, group of 2 and one on his own. A few climbs caught me by surprise with effort slightly increasing but I stayed strong on them and took the 2 runners ahead of me, one of them from local club Finbarrs and I recognised him as a decent runner from a few races. The next guy ahead who was sitting in 2nd had quite visibly gone out way too hard. I quickly reeled him in and passed him going up another drag in the 2nd mile, wondering why he's gone and exhausted himself already. So here I am sitting in 2nd place and almost 3 miles into the race, hugely surprising but a nice feeling. I knew I was going to have to work to keep this pace with the group of 2 lads just behind me. Hit mile 3 feeling I was working a little hard but had the drags out of the way and now it was time to descend.
Splits: 5:52, 6:03, 6:02
Miles 3-6
From the course map, miles 3 and 4 are visibly the quickest with a sharp decent followed by relative flatness for the remainder. These were easily the most comfortable couple of miles of the race running 5:34 and 5:36 respectively. I just let the legs do the work but had to be careful to run the racing line with all the sharp corners. I could hear the footsteps of the lads behind me for the first mile but by the time I had reached the bottom I couldn't hear them at all, I was just out on my own and it felt strange. Talking to the Finbarrs runner after the race he said he eased up for the downhills as they bolloxed his legs last year, I can say I'm definitely feeling it today in my quads, in ribbons! I was nice and relaxed coming off the 2 downhill miles, feeling confident but soon effort increased as the course flattened out again. I kept a decent pace for the next mile running 5:51 and knowing there's still a bit of work to do. Through 5 miles in 29:09 - PB!
Splits: 5:34, 5:36, 5:51
Miles 6-9
The course looks pretty flat on the elevation map after the downhill but in reality it was anything but. I had a good few drags and pulls to battle over these 3 miles, I was starting to feel the humidity kick in also and there was a decent headwind but I was working well keeping pace in the low 5:50's and this is where the real work was done. It was a little difficult being out on my own on what is probably mentally the most difficult section of a half marathon. I got a bit of a shock on the start of mile 7 to see the estimated mile pace at 6:20 while going up a drag but it soon levelled before a downhill followed and pace resume to sub 6, that was to be a familiar pattern for the remainder of the race so I just got used to it.
Splits: 5:53, 5:57, 5:53
Miles 9-13.1
I just continued weaving my way through the winding country roads, the rugged beauty of Kerry of absolutely no interest to me, I just focussed on the road ahead and maintaining my form. I was starting to tire a little and aching for that finish line. I turned off the main road on mile 10 and into the national park, I lost a few seconds turning some sharp bends but was feeling good coming into the last 5k. I hit 10 miles in 58:2x, new PB and seeing that on the watch gave me a lot of confidence to keep it going. I was worried a few times when I just found myself out on my own for long stretches on a narrow pathway without any directions. I had a steward on a bike ahead of me most of the race guiding me so I was so relieved when I finally saw him up above waiting for me, still on track. Because I had this cyclist with me most of the race, I wondered if I was actually leading the race and the leader had dropped out, one can dream but I was just purely focussed on getting the time I wanted.
I was running well through the park despite all the humps and bumps but I was working pretty hard. I started getting a bit of support from walkers and a few spectators, it was good to be back to civilisation again and the few cheers really helped. The last couple of miles just flew by, I had to negotiate my way around a few horse and carriages on narrow pathways and wondered how that would work for the big groups of runners behind but I didn't wonder for too long, more important things to worry about. Finally I hit mile 12 and repeated to myself "one mile to go, keep it going" along with some other inspirational things. I exited the park finally, knowing I was on a PB but no idea how close it would be. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the line come into sight and my watch read 1:15:xx. I knew I had a 76 in the bag but really didn't have a sprint finish, maybe had I had someone around me like Cork but I was happy enough to just maintain pace and and see it home. I crossed in 1:16:17 officially and in 2nd place as called out by the MC, damn it, your wasn't injured after all, he was just incredibly fast!! I was thrilled with that result but it barely registered with me at the time, just wanted to get in and sit/lie down. I joined the winner on the massage beds (perks of coming in early) for a rub down and had a chat with him. I was extremely impressed with his 71 mins, a whole 5 mins to spare on me but that's the level I aspire to get to one day.
Splits: 6:00, 5:53, 5:46, 5:46
Got a 2 mile cooldown in and headed walking back to the hostel but it proceeded to piss down from the heavens on me, I didn't mind I just had a big smile painted on my face. We headed back to the Gleneagle for 2pm to collect my prize which was a nice wooden plaque, 100 euro and free entry for next year, all washed down with a pint of ale
Great weekend, great hurling by Wexford and couldn't have asked for a better race. Feeling confident heading into the marathon schedule in a few weeks so back to work next week.
Summary: 13.1m in 1:16:17 @ 5:49 min/mile (17.4m total)Keeping up with the tradition of half marathon finish photos, sure why not...
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Inspiring stuff.
And you've got some pretty soft PB's to take care of at some stage too going by what you say in the report. I used to regularly get a bus from Glengarriff to Killarney during the summertime over those MacGillicuddy Reeks. Not the place for an air conditioned coach, but a spectacular place to run I'd imagine.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks and great running yourself yesterday, back slaps all around! I'm sure it was a spectacular place to run, but I don't really remember it
Ya there are a few PB's I need to have a word with so I'll be checking out the race calendar for my next victim :pac:0 -
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Wednesday 30/07 - 5 miles recovery + 8 miles easy
AM 5 miles in 39:14 @ 7:48 min/mile (124bpm)
Headed off to explore a new route on my doorstep towards Blarney (begorra bejaysus) and while it was a lovely scenic country run on a smashing morning, the terrain wasn't exactly conducive for a recovery run but sure anyway...
PM 8 miles in 58:09 @ 7:16 min/mile (132bpm)
Down to the Mardyke on my bike and headed off on a trot towards the marina. First 5 miles or so felt grand but then started feeling sluggish, the HR started going up a little but I was also running into a headwind. I struggled through it anyway though the plan was only 7 miles, I calculated it wrong. Into the gym then for core and some weights.
Thursday 31/07 - 30 min track tempo
10.2 miles in 1:11:01 @ 6:59 (142bpm)
2 mile warmup which felt way harder than it should have, another muggy evening. I actually can't wait for it to get cooler, there I said it. Session was a 30 min tempo, there was a group of lads who were doing 5:40 pace so I tucked in behind them, turns out they were doing anything but 5:40 pace so I didn't try keep up and ended up doing the whole session on my own which I didn't mind.
The last time I did this session was 6 weeks ago and I managed to average 6 min/mile pace so today I felt I should be around 5:40-5:45 and so I managed to keep it within that range though it was bloody hard work and felt more like a race at times.
Mile 1: 5:42
Mile 2: 5:41
Mile 3: 5:45 (strava says 6:00 but I stopped to tie my lace I swear)
Mile 3: 5:46
Mile 5: 5:45
1/4 Mile: 1:26 (5:45 pace)
Overall happy with this one though was fit to drop after it, really need to do a 5 mile race cos that was a PB
Front loading a lot of milage this week as I'm off to a wedding tomorrow, there'll be no running Saturday but a long and potentially groggy run on Sunday, can't wait.0 -
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I can't believe I have a Cork smell already, anyway...
Saturday 23/08 - Frank Duffy 10 mile
So off I headed up to capital city on Friday evening, hadn't run a step since Thursday evening and was feeling well rested come Saturday morning. A perfect morning for the race, blue skies, sun was beaming yet temperature felt ideal. I was staying in a friends just outside the park so after my ritual coffee, off I set at 9:30am and started jogging up Chesterfield avenue. I felt really light on my feet and full of energy, could have been the fact I was wearing racers but I just felt very good and confident I'd run a good race today, honestly I think the little rest played a big part in attitude.
The target was most definitely a PB, a generous chunk too I was hoping. The existing PB of 58:46 was ran down in Mallow in March earlier this year. I knew I'd come on a lot since then and having unofficially broken that PB during my last half marathon I knew if I ran to my ability that a PB was a formality, it was just a matter of how much. In terms of a time, a great result would be 56:30 but anywhere between that and 57 I'd be happy with. 5:40 pace was the target and based on my recent training I felt pretty confident of being able to hold that. I really don't like to go out with a target pace in mind, it sort of suggests that once I'm hitting that pace I stay there and hold on to it without pushing anymore. I decided to allow myself to run more by feel today, to allow times where the pace would be slower and if I felt good I'd push on without running to a self imposed limit, seemed like a fair deal.
I got up to the start line having run a nice 2 mile warmup and feeling nice and relaxed. I met a few Donore lads at the start line for a chat and suddenly it was almost time to go. I was a good bit back, too far probably for what I was targeting but I saw no point panicking and trying to get up further, starting conservatively and working my way up the field has always worked well for me.
Miles 1-2
Off went the hooter and it was a good 10 seconds before I would pass the start line. I didn't hang around just patiently made my way through the droves of runners, as usual there was a good lot of folk who shouldn't have be starting up so far but fully expect it in the big races. I finally started getting a bit of room about half a mile in and was still so far back but continuing to pass a lot of people. Surprised to see a 5:38 pop up for the first mile, was feeling nice and relaxed and felt I could keep this effort going. We turned onto Lords walk and the field starting to settle as the initial excitement plateaued, now it felt more like the start of the race. I just focussed on feeling relaxed and keeping the effort consistent, hit the second mile a little slower but still in control.
Splits: 5:38, 5:43
Miles 3-4
We made our way around the back of the zoo and onto the North road which I knew would be a difficult patch. There was a guy just on my shoulder who then fell into step with me and I thought great we can work together up to the next group ahead. Effort was certainly harder now with the combination of a slight headwind and a gradual drag but I was feeling ok. I found myself out on my own again as the guy fell off the pace and I started closing in on a group of 5/6 ahead of me including a Donore runner who was leading the pack, that was my target. I hit mile 3 in a reasonable 5:44 and though I was off my target pace, I didn't panic. I had a lot of miles left to run, I knew I had the training done and I had the ability to run quicker miles in the middle section so It was a case of ensuring steady effort and not stupidly chasing a pace when conditions weren't optimal. I made my way up past the group ahead who were all slowing and to the Donore runner, who I didn't even know at the time. He acknowledged me and then we ran alongside the last mile of the North road working together, starting to find it difficult but knowing that there were better miles to come. Too much watch checking here!
Splits: 5:44, 5:47
Miles 5-6
Coming off the North road I felt pretty good, I felt I'd summited a mental mountain and it was time to descend. Myself and the Donore runner turned back onto Chesterfield and headed up towards the Castleknock gate. I felt good and gradually starting pulling away from him and reeled in a few others ahead of me. After that it was an empty field bar a few specks in the distance so I just relaxed the shoulders and prepared for a long journey down the entire length of Chesterfield. Now I really started enjoying myself and just letting the legs do the work. The sun was beaming and I felt like I could run forever, terrific feeling. There was an official 5 mile mat and I had a quick glance to see 28:32 for the first 5 miles, good stuff and still on track. I knew the last 1.5 miles were going to be tough so I was going to make this next section count. At that point I knew I was running in the 5:30's though I didn't need to check. I was in a great place so I made the decision to turn the garmin screen off. I didn't want any pace or time targets to upset the rhythm I had and constantly checking it wasn't going to do me any good. I knew what I had to do and at this point so I just focussed on the road ahead and I ran what I felt was the right pace.
Splits: 5:37, 5:32
Miles 7-8
Onto mile 7 and though I wasn't watching my time or pace, I had seen the mile splits flash up and knew I was going well, confidence was high and I was still passing people. There were 2 Donore singlets ahead of me, out in force they were and made for pretty good targets. I passed one just before turning onto Wellington road and I started reeling the other in slowly. We were always descending on this section so pace was still nippy and I finally caught up with my clubmate just after exiting the park at the Chapelizod gate. He tagged on for a bit but I was maintaining the same effort and gradually pulled away. I was pretty delighted to pass my sisters apartment here to see her standing on the footpath alongside my mother for a big cheer. No doubt I sped up and tried my best to look effortless for those 10 seconds and I think it worked, they bought it. Hit mile 8 soon after and I knew what was coming ahead though I was still feeling quite good.
Splits: 5:33, 5:35
Miles 9-10
Mile 9 and 10 were funny ones. I felt like I was flying still on the 9th mile, but apparently I wasn't. The first half of it was along Chapelizod road and then we re-entered the park (apparently DublinRunner gave me a shout here but I was too rude focussed to acknowledge, so thanks!). Then came the climbs which in fairness I was ready for and knew was was ahead of me. I immediately felt the pace drop but I didn't feel it was by too much, I shortened the stride a bit but was closing in quickly on a group ahead so felt in control. We hit the 9 mile mark up near the first section of the upper glen road and I saw a 5:57 pop up. It was a little surprising because I didn't think I had slowed that much but again no panic, I didn't know what time I was on for or what that actually meant to my end result so I just concentrated on the runners ahead of me who seemed to be really struggling badly with the hill. The 2nd and 3rd placed female runners (Scottish I think) were just ahead of me and I reeled them in quite quickly and started to feel surprisingly ok with the hill. I felt very strong after the initial climb and through the next drag I took another 3 lads before turning onto the Furze road for the finish. Now I was feeling a bit of burn but there was one more guy to take care of in a yellow top. I didn't feel I had much of a sprint in my until I heard a shout from a club member who was watching, something like "Push it all the way" and I just though he's right I'm not done yet, gotta push this all the way to the end. I found a gear and I put everything I had into that last section taking the guy ahead of me. I had no idea of my time until that point but then I saw the finishing clock just under 57 minutes. I gave it my all to duck under the 57 but realised quickly it wasn't happening. I crossed as the clock hit 57:07 and I think I actually muttered the words "f**k it" as I crossed though I had no right to be disappointed with that time. Then as I gathered myself I was extremely pleased to look at my watch to see it reading 56:58 - I hadn't crossed the line until 10 seconds after the gun went, I did get under 57!! My official chip time was 56:57, even better, get in there! I was really pleased with that last mile which was a tough climb but I had the strength to push through it despite knowing I had slowed considerably on mile 9.
Splits: 5:57, 5:40
Summary: 10 miles in 56:57 @ 5:40 min/mile (167bpm)
Position: 47/4226
Post race thoughts: I'm really thrilled with that race, not just the PB but the strategy, the attitude and the belief I had in my abilities. The race was fantastic, a real mixed bag of emotions, times where I had to dig deep, to be patient and times when I felt on top of the world and nothing could go wrong. I once again took the tactic of "do the passing, don't be passed" and it seems to work well for me. I really have had a fantastic summer of training and racing and have never been enjoying my running so much. This felt like the cherry on top of that great summer and I can't wait to take on the next challenge which of course is the impending marathon training and then the actual marathon itself. No complaints about the actual race itself, excellent organisation, well marshalled, super atmosphere and what a bargain at 20 quid.
It dawned on me today that the pace I ran for that 10 mile was actually the same pace I ran for the Cheetah 4 mile race back in May. I think that sort of progress is a huge reflection on my coach and clubmates because I really wouldn't be making these sort of improvements without them. I know it's said a lot but I really have to agree that surrounding yourself and consistently training with better runners is a sure way to improve dramatically.
It's getting late so lets finish with my now standard finish sprint photo..
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I'm no where near your league but i take it you finished ahead of 1333 in yesterdays race, he regularly runs sub 2.45 in marathons. If your beating him at ten miles no reason why you should not beat him at marathon distance.
Thanks tang, good to know That was the finish straight with meters to go and I don't remember being passed so yeah I would have beaten him but only by seconds obviously but still a nice little confidence booster! 0 -
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Friday 29/08 - 40min recovery + 30min easy
AM: 5 miles in 39:43 @ 7:52 min/mile
PM: 4.1 miles in 30:06 @ 7:18 min/mile
After an intense internal battle, I decided to do this one. Plan was a 6 miler but I really didn't think I needed to do it, I was heading for a 90 mile week, was still feeling the tiredness of the 10 miler race and had a key Saturday session and Sunday long run coming up. 80 miles is where I'm performing well at right now but I just couldn't leave it could I, had to go chasing the miles. I made a deal to do just 30 minutes and god dammit why didn't I just not do it. I did the run, felt a bit tired but got back to the car park and was walking into the gym when suddenly I felt a sharp intense pain in my right achilles...crap. I knew it wasn't good, I was limping but I got on with my gym session. When I got home I iced the foot hoping it would be ok for the session tomorrow...please!
Saturday 30/08 - 6m very easy
5.9 miles in 46:38 @ 7:55 min/mile
Well the leg felt a bit better this morning, still slightly painful to walk but I headed out to the farm hoping it would hold up for the session - which was a 10/9/8/7/6 min with 2 minutes recovery, brutal session but one I knew would be extremely beneficial. On the 2 mile warmup the achilles was causing me a lot of discomfort and I just knew I had to sit it out today. It wasn't painful enough to stop and I was so very tempted to just run through it but I luckily saw sense and just jogged out a couple more easy miles before heading home to ice it some more. I could have risked the session but for what gain really, plenty of time to get those sessions done and I'd like to get a decent long run in tomorrow if it holds up. Coach told me I was doing too much milage, that 80 is my "breaking point" and to hold it at that from now on and see how I feel for tomorrow long run.
Sunday 31/08 - Long Run
18.5 miles in 2:13:19 @ 7:13 min/mile (130bpm)
Well the plan here was just to get through at least 2 hours and I'm glad to say that I did, relatively unscathed. Met up with a clubmate at 9am and we tipped along just above 7 min miles, ticking the miles off. The leg was much better but still felt discomfort at times, nothing major but I knew not to push it too fast. We ended up pulling back for the last few miles as I started to feel it get a bit sore but was delighted to get over 2 hours in. The leg is back on the ice and I'll be taking it very easy for the rest of the day. Lesson learned? I sure hope so!
Weekly total: 79.9 miles - I know I was told not to go above 80 miles but that was completely by chance I swear 0 -
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