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Berlin or bust...

Emer911

So I'm finally taking the plunge and starting my very own training log on Boards. This is fairly monumental (for me). I've been hanging around Boards for a while now - generally peering over shoulders - and I've even met a few of ye along the way.

I'm not the fanatic that most of ye guys seem to be, but I hope ye enjoy my log. Maybe it'll bring you back to when you were first starting out?

My History: I've been plodding around for a few years now, and last year I did the Adidas Half Marathon. And then I did the half in Connemara this year. From there, where else was there to go but Marathon <gulp>? :eek:

Anyway. I've signed up for Berlin in September and my 18 week training program starts this coming Monday.
I'm using a modified Hal Higdon program, but I do a swim class on Monday and Yoga on Wednesday, so I'm dropping one of the mid-week runs to accommodate that.

This week starts with :

Mon Swimming
Tues 5 miles
Wed Yoga
Thur 3 miles
Fri Rest
Sat 5 miles (pace)
Sun 8 miles

The aim is to get around (not really looking for a time or anything) but the plan pace is for a 4:30 marathon.

So it all starts here. Hope you (ad I) enjoy it.

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RubyK

Great work Emer, you are all set for a pb in Frankfurt!

How have you found the P&D plan in comparison to previous marathon plans? I was tempted to go for it, but ended up going back to my last years one. I might have to HTFU and try it in 2015!

Emer911

RubyK wrote: »

Great work Emer, you are all set for a pb in Frankfurt!

How have you found the P&D plan in comparison to previous marathon plans? I was tempted to go for it, but ended up going back to my last years one. I might have to HTFU and try it in 2015!

I must confess I did struggle with the middle part of the plan, with high mileage and MP sessions, but overall it's been fine. This will be my 5th marathon though, so I do have an accumulation of miles in the legs now. Maybe that makes it easier to make that jump?

I have not been the most rigorous though. Where the midweeks runs said 8 or 10, I sometimes did just 7 or 8, but I think I've hit all the key sessions and the the long runs, so we'll see if there's a positive outcome from that. Don't think the legs are as speedy (for me:o) as they were last year. Sure we'll see how it goes on the day.

RubyK

Sounds like you have managed very well on the plan, it's certainly not for the faint hearted!!

You deserve a great run in Frankfurt, you've put in the work.

Emer911

RubyK wrote: »

Sounds like you have managed very well on the plan, it's certainly not for the faint hearted!!

You deserve a great run in Frankfurt, you've put in the work.

A shucks - thanks for the vote of confidence. It's much needed

This taper is kicking the confidence out of me here :rolleyes:

Emer911

2 weeks to go

Monday
Plan: Rest
Actual: Rest

Tuesday
Plan: General aerobic + speed - 7mi w/ 8 x 100mt strides
Actual: 7 mi
Pilates at lunchtime and then a nice easy run after work.

Wednesday
Plan: v02max - 8mi w/ 3 x 1600 mt @ 5K pace; jog 2min between
Actual: Rest
Nah. Just couldn't take myself out in the atrocious conditions.

I know, I know, I'm a wussie!!

Thursday
Plan: Rest
Actual: Rest
The weather was still pretty unwelcoming so I was happy to take the rest day.

Friday
Plan: Recovery + speed - 5mi w/ 6 x 100mt strides
Actual: 5 mi
It was raining on and off all day, and of course it was totally bucketing down when I got home! I was not missing this one though, so a bit of HTFU and I stepped gingerly out into the elements. I did a couple of laps of the park, but it was getting too dark and I unfortunately had to head to the roads for the last couple of miles, but met a few of the girls and had a good laugh at ourselves for the last few sodden miles.

Saturday
Plan: Rest
Actual: 12 mi LSR
Some of the girls were doing the LSR this morning so I decided to join them. Thankfully the weather had improved overnight and the sunshine was a very welcome sight. It was still very blustery and there was a lot of standing water about, but it was quite a nice run and I really enjoyed it. Finished up with a good cup of coffee at my place. Nice

Sunday
Plan: Medium-long run - 12mi
Actual: <5 mi with strides
Nice sunny morning so was happy to get out for a few miles. Finished up with some strides, just to loosen things out.
A spot of easy climbing in the afternoon finished me off for the week.

28:57 miles for the week
93.40 miles for the month
1,106.69 miles for the year

Emer911

And now we're in the Last week of Marathon Training for 2014!

Ososlo

Emer have a great race Sunday!
Best of luck!

Emer911

And now for the fun....

:rolleyes::eek:

Fingers crossed for me?

RacoonQueen

Best of luck Emer. Have fun!

Will you crazy kids be hitting McGrattans when you get back?

pistol_75

Best of luck Emer. Have a great race.

RubyK

Best of luck Emer!! You've put in the hard work! Enjoy.

pgmcpq

Good luck ! Laufen snell und viel spass!

Dory Dory

Ute ist im Boot. That's about all I remember from German class.

Have a great day, Emer....fingers and toes crossed!!!

racheljev

Dory Dory wrote: »

Ute ist im Boot. That's about all I remember from German class.
!

"Ist das ein Kugel? Nein, das ist ein Kugelschrieber" Don't think that'll be much good to you in Frankfurt

Best of luck to you both, hope you have a brilliant day out and you hit your targets. Viel Glück!!

Emer911

Back home and reconnected (i had some technology issues) so belated Thanks for all the good luck messages.

No excuses this year- training went well and the weather was perfect, but it wasn't to be my day.
I think I ran well and was overall pretty happy with my run. I felt good and the pace was petty constant.... BUT... isn't there always a but?!

I'll do a full report later. This is just the taster :-)

HibernianRunner

Hi Emer. Really nice to meet yourself and Gary over there. Our nice chat just before the start of the race really helped to calm the nerves.
Sorry I couldn't make it to the afters but my legs were in bits. Glad to hear that your happy with your run. I was wondering how you were getting on. As for Gary, Superb!! I will put up a report at some point during the week on the Frankfurt thread.

Regards.
Alan M.

Emer911

HibernianRunner wrote: »

Hi Emer. Really nice to meet yourself and Gary over there. Our nice chat just before the start of the race really helped to calm the nerves.
Sorry I couldn't make it to the afters but my legs were in bits. Glad to hear that your happy with your run. I was wondering how you were getting on. As for Gary, Superb!! I will put up a report at some point during the week on the Frankfurt thread.

Regards.
Alan M.

Thanks Alan.
You did a superb time! And for a first marathon? Brilliant. When we didn't see or hear from you after we assumed the tiredness had won out - but that was to be expected. All the lads were very impressed with your performance. Congrats again!

Emer911

Frankfurt Marathon 2014
The preamble
Sitting here some days after the marathon and I don't really know what I want to write. A race report is for me to sum up the training, the lead in, the conditions, the mindset and, of course, the event itself. Something to refer back to when I want to reminisce or wallow or whatever. But strangely, the emotion was more subdued this time around. Given that it's my fifth (Wha? When did that happen?!) and the first time I didn't get a PB, I guess that's not all that surprising?

I had some problems with my sinus from shortly after last year's marathon, which meant I was out of action for a bit. It resulted in an op eventually, so more time out. The mileage in the first half of the year was pretty abysmal but once I was back in action I ramped it up again so I was ready to start the marathon training come mid June. I had definitely lost some pace though.
The training went really well, and other than a flutter with an iffey knee (caused by tight IT band and tight calfs) there weren't any issues or problems. I did my 4 previous marathons off a modified Hal Higdon plan and this time I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. On sterling advice (thanks to KC) I started on the P&D 55mi 18 week plan. It was a very different focus to the Higdon ones - more pace miles, more 'quality' sessions, etc. I did struggle a bit with the middle section where the miles ramped up and the pace runs got more frequent, especially given my poor pace to start with, but it generally went according to plan.

I didn't set myself any goal time for this one. I had finally cracked the sub 4 last year which kinda took the pressure off. But the training was all done on the basis of 8:50-ish marathon pace (a bit soft maybe?) so that was the plan for marathon day.

The lead up
After some fretting about Luftansa striking pilots on Monday and Tuesday, the flight was delayed when we got to the airport. More fretting (though mostly of the Krusty variety). While we waited at the gate a very boisterous stag party crew serenaded us from the bar nearby - lovely! Next thing I got an elbow in the ribs and "I think that's Snoop Dog". Tall, skinny dude with hoodie up, baseball cap and shades on, pulling a Louis Vuitton case, walked through the gate and down the stairs (no waiting) with entourage in tow. One of the stag party had also spotted him and went running after him but was blanked and went back to his mates shouting "Feic lads, never meet your heros!"
Finally we boarded and there he was, huddled in the window seat of row 2 with his bouncer squished into the aisle seat. Poor guy bearly fit in the seat and it couldn't have been a comfortable couple of hours for him - quite the rock star life, eh?
Turns out we were sitting beside another boardsie on the flight too, but only discovered it when we were landing!

Landed, checked in, and off to the expo to get the numbers all sorted before we headed back to the hotel for a nice relaxing evening.
Did the 5k pretzle run on Saturday morning with some of the boardsie crew. It was quite amusing watching the 6 and
7 minute milers trotting along at 10+minutes per miles. Good fun and a nice bit of banter though.

Race day
The morning of the marathon arrived and the conditions were just about perfect - 12c, overcast and little or no wind. After the usual pre race brecky of porridge, coffee and toast we headed to the start. Bag drop was completed with usual German efficiency, and I left KC with a good luck kiss and headed down the back to the 2nd wave corrals. Met Hibernian Runner and we chatted as we waited for the proceedings to kick off. Before long the 1st wave was gone and we were walked up to the line. We wished each other well and then Bang! we were off.

1-10km (I'll do this in km's for a change)
The first 9k of the route is in around the centre of the city and the course turns back on itself a few times. As a consequence, there are a few tightish turns and lots of crowds and we got to see the leaders a few times as they steamed ahead.

I really enjoyed the city centre start of the route, even though it was a bit of a slow start. Before we'd even started we saw the leaders pass back on the other side of the road and as we ran towards the first corner I spotted Krusty, looking comfortable and focussed. The sun had come out for a bit and it was definitely getting a bit sweaty, but thankfully the cloud reappeared before long.

Aid stations were every 5k but with cups of water/ sports drink/tea(!) I really struggle with cups so decided to hold onto my 250ml water bottle (that I was sipping at the start) and refill it as needed. Even though it sounds like a batty plan it actually worked out really well. I opened the lid as I got near the station, grabbed a cup and emptied it into the bottle. Yea, about half it went everywhere but the bottle, but it still meant I was getting more than if I'd tried to drink directly from the cup!
Took my first gel at mile 5.
Splits: 5 km 28:06 (05:38/km); 10 km 27:57 (05:36/km)

10-20 km
Was feeling good and the pace was nice and steady. As I got to about the 9 miles/ 15km point I felt the need for a pit stop. I rationalised that it would be better to stop now and get it over with, rather than try to wait it out and possibly make things worse, so just after the next aid station I veered off course to the dreaded port-a-loo. Pleasantly surprised - there was even loo roll!
Job done and I resumed the race pace but I'd been overtaken by the 4 hour pace group. I thought about just sticking with them for a bit, but running in such a congested group at a slower pace than I was going, was just too frustrating. I slowly eased my was through the masses and after a bit I was out in space again and my pace was back on track. Second gel taken after about 10 miles - the plan was to take them every 5 or so miles.
Splits: 15 km 29:37 (05:56/km); 20 km 27:57(05:36/km)

Half way
We had left the city and headed out along the river. Passing the half way point I was still feeling good and was surprised when I went through in under the 2 hours. The loo break hadn't scuppered me too badly so.
Half way split in 01:59:41 (05:33/km)

20-30 km
The route ran out to a suburb of the city and from about mi 15 we were back in crowds with cheering and cow bells. Took my third gel at about mile 16 or so and was enjoying the crowds and the atmosphere. There was a part here where we ran alongside a switchback. I was astounded to see one runner pull up to the middle of the road and looked as though they were going to just cross over and cut out about a mile or so from their race. Why would you do that? It's not like he was going to win or anything?! And right in front of the other runners and the spectators too?

And then my troubles started...
My pace was good, my legs felt fine but my gut started complaining. Won't really go into to much detail, but the chant in my head went "find the loo, find the loo, find the loo" and even thought I knew there would be one at the 30km aid station, I was going to have a Paula Radcliff moment if that didn't come soon! Oooh! Dived for the port-a-loo in SUCH relief when I saw it! This loo was not quite as fresh as the first one, and I was glad I had my own supply of paper too!
Splits: 25 km 21:42 (05:34/km); 30 km 28:23 (05:41/km)

30-40km
When I emerged from my shame, I reckoned the sub 4 was probably gone, but the head being what it is at that point in a marathon, I wasn't quite sure and spent the next 12km convincing myself that it was/ it wasn't/ it was...
Legs felt good, head was okay and gut seemed to be behaving again. I still had another gel in the back pocket but was loath to take it. I had taken them in races before and in training with no ill effects, but didn't want to chance another one - just in case.
So I just kept going. Lots of people were obviously in a bad place at this point and I was passing loads that had slowed to a walk. From the 36km we were back in the city area and the crowds were thick and loud (though nothing like Dublin, obviously). I noticed a landmark that we had passed by on Saturday which was really close to the finish area, so that was a bit of a head wrecker with another 6km to go!
And still I kept plugging. Getting tired now, but not giving up just yet.
Splits: 35 km 31:23 (06:17/km); 40 km 28:28 (05:42/km)

Finish
With just over 2k to go I still didn't know if I was doing sub 4 or not. I reckoned it was gone but couldn't be certain and knew I just had to give whatever was left. So I did. My 26th mile was my second fastest of the day at 8:35 and the last 0.48mi I did in 03:49, which is sub 8min/mi pace. I came over the line in 4:01:26 and almost threw up on the lovely red carpet!
Splits: Last 2.195 km (official) 11:49 (05:23/km)

This marathon finishes indoors with music and lights and cheerleaders and yes, a red carpet. After my near miss at the finish I was given a baggie and a sit down and when I gathered myself sufficiently, I joined the masses trudging through the finish area to get some water, food and the all important medal. The hot sweet black lemon tea was very welcome, but I couldn't stomach the soup. I did enjoy the banana, fruit bread, sports drink and non-al beer though.
Reunited with my gear bag, I got my recovery drink into me, found the showers and got changed before rejoining the well finished boardsies for a drink and a chat. Most of them had a very successful day and everyone was in good spirits.

Summary
I would certainly recommend Frankfurt for any marathon travelers. It's flat and fast, well organised, easy to get to, and there a good buzz. The city isn't exactly a holiday destination but it's grand for the few days.
I'm actually happy with my run too. Need to try to figure out what happened and make sure I don't have a repeat, but other than that I ran well and recovered amazingly well!

What's next? Hmmm... I'll have to go have a long think about that one.

Garmin stats: 26.48 miles in 04:01:29 (9:07min/mi)

Chip time:
Half 1 01:59:41
Half 2 02:01:45
Chip time 04:01:26

place (M/W)813
place (ag)173
place (total)6436

Emer911

Sunday Nov 9th

Two weeks since the marathon and the legs have recovered fine, but I'm still taking things nice and gentle. After the marathon last year I got back into training too quick and too hard and my immune system threw a total wobbly! I ended up with a head cold that turned into an 8 week recurring sinus infection.

So this year I'm taking it very handy. I did absolutely nothing for the full week and then went for a very nice, slow 2.5 mile jog with my sister in law on the forest path trails. Lovely.

A few easy miles again on Thursday with the club session. Some of the marathoners were back out so we all just ran a handy 5 miles in the pelting rain. What fun. Those runs are really what it's all about.

Sunday morning I did the remembrance run in the Phoenix park. Great turnout there and it was a lovely atmosphere. A funny event though with kids and parents and grannys and buggies lined up in the same race as Finnola Britton and Catherina McKiernan.

So my total mileage in the two weeks since the marathon in Frankfurt? A whopping 11.87 miles:D

Nothing much to see here so.;)

Emer911

Sunday 16th Nov

Another week down and just a little bit of running done.

Went back to pilates this week after my 3 week break - ouch! I was sore for 2 days after, but it was a good 'sore'

(I'm such a masochist!

)

Bit of rock climbing on Wednesday with the gang. I think that's the first time I actually completed all the bouldering routes I attempted in a session. I was pretty proud of myself. Not getting carried away though - they were all pretty easy ones

Did the club session on Thursday - it was a kind of a fartlek session. Great fun and really enjoyed giving the legs a bit of a speedshot. The weather was kind too, which was a nice surprise.

Nothing Friday or Saturday (other than a bit of socialising) and then joined one of the girls for an 8 mile trot on sunday afternoon. Lovely one.

So another 'heavy' week :rolleyes: with 13 miles in the run bank.
I think I need to get a few more miles in next week :cool:

Emer911

Sunday November 23rd

A week of mucky weather and not too much else! Nothing on Monday and did the lunchtime pilates on Tuesday. Lots of squat type exercising so my poor thighs were shaking when I got back to work! :eek: The plan was to go climbing in the evening, but both of the kids gave it a miss and it ended up being just the two of us. So we stuck to the top-rope for the hour and bit and got some fun and interesting climbs in.
Busy evening Wednesday so nothing done and had intended on going to the club session on Thursday but an accident on the N11 meant the traffic was backed up for miles so myself and a few other stranded souls just did our run from the park instead. Six nice miles, and I really enjoyed it, especially as we ran past the stationery traffic - poor dears!
I arranged to meet a few of the girls for a recovery run on Friday and if I hadn't, I really don't know if I'd have bothered. Another wonderful weather day! :rolleyes:
Did a lovely run on Sunday morning in Ballinastoe. Met up with 2 (faster!) clubmates and we did a lovely trail run - even if it was 2 miles of uphill to start! Admittedly, I was following behind for most of the up, but they waited for me at each section and I was really glad I did it - even if i was at walking pace for most of the hills

. It was a beautiful crisp sunny morning and the views at the top were stunning.
Finished off the week with a few hours in the climbing gym. Some lead rope climbing, followed by a spot of bouldering. I'm definitely improving - if slowly - and was very happy with my effort.

So that was 16 miles for the week.
Not a big number, but it's heading in the right direction.

Emer911

Sunday 30th November

As the Christmas eating and drinking season approaches, the running is starting to take a hit. The miserable weather at the start of the week made me equally miserable and any excuse was used to get me off the running hook - oh dear!
I did manage to get to the club session on Thursday for some decent running, including hill repeats (lovely!), but the late lunch into later night on Friday had me hanging on Saturday, so just a few more miles on Sunday meant a measly 12 miles for the week. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! :rolleyes:

I did do my pilates and a spot of climbing with the clan, so I wasn't a complete potato all week

More eating and drinking Christmas commitments this weekend, so I'll try to front load the week with a few runs... if I can get myself out the door at all.

Emer911

Sunday 21st Dec

Okay so I've been very lackadaisical at keeping the log up to date - but it's been a bit busy and I haven't been very active

So in summary, here's what I've been up to:

Dec 1-7
2 measly runs for a total of 9.25 miles, and one Pilates class.

Dec 8-14
5 miles on the Monday, walk home from work on the Wednesday, pilates on Thursday and the Wicklow Senior Cross Country race on Sunday. Sill only managed a total of 10 miles running, but I think the race made up a little for the lack of miles :rolleyes: Team silver, so at least we got something for the misery :P

Dec 15-22
Decided I needed to stop the rot and get myself out for at least 4 runs this week. Training for Ballycotton starts next week (Doh!) so the miles have to be ramped up a bit, at least!
Monday - 6 miles with a few of the lads
Tuesday - Pilates at lunchtime
Wednesday - rest day
Thursday - Pilates at lunchtime & 6 miles with one of the girls
Friday - Bouldering at the new spot in Sandyford The Wall with
Saturday - 4.5 slow but enjoyable miles with the club kids group
Sunday - 1hr 15min run on the grass in the park. Nice run. TOp and lead rope climbing in the evening.

Total of 24.5 miles for the week - I'm coming back!!

Emer911

Dec 22 - 28

Nothing on Monday or Tuesday - just lots of running around like headless chicken :rolleyes: (but I can't really count that!)

Wednesday 24th
Up for a few miles with the girls in the cold, windy park. Fit in just over 4 before I had to rush off for event 2 of the day - the annual dip in the 40Foot. Birrr! :eek:

It was lovely and sunny in Dún Laoghaire but the wind chill was bitterly cold, so I literally jumped in, turned around, back up the steps and sprinted back to get changed! One of the lads reckoned it looked like I bounced on the water I was back out that quick

Thursday 25th
Was over to the park for the goal mile at 9:30. Jogged it slowly with mini-me who is on the way back from an injury. Lots of folks out for this and it was a lovely way to start Christmas day.

Saturday 27th
Easy 40 minutes on the frosty roads around the ol' homestead.

Sunday 28th
1 hour 20 minutes in the plan for this one, but as I stepped out my Mammys door I nearly went on my face! I'm sure I looked like something from a slapstick sketch (think 'woa woa woooaaah!':o) Somehow I caught myself but decided to drive to a local park and run on the trails rather than risk it on the footpaths.
The park trail is lovely and soft with a good nit of tree cover and then it rises up to give a great view of the countryside. It was a fabulous run in the sunshine on a gorgeous bright frosty morning. The perfect Christmas run!

Tuesday 30th
Back home and did a short run with the girls in the park. Very frosty underfoot again so stuck to the grass.

Emer911

Summary for the year 2014

| 2013| 2014
Miles run | 1,003.42 mi| 1,264.78 mi up 260miles on last year

Races | 13| 17
PB's | 3 (5K, HM, Marathon) |1 - but that the MSB 5k short course so can't count it. So 0

Overall, though I didn't really perform brilliantly this year, there was quite a bit of 'down time' due to illness and an op, so I am actually really happy with the year overall. I lost a good bit of basic speed being off for so long, and the lack of PB's doesn't really worry me (maybe it should?). I know I ran well in Frankfurt and the circumstances on the day were just unfortunate for me. So I think I mark this down as a good foundation laid for the assault on the PB times this year.

Emer911

Catch up time...

8 days done in January and I guess I should log my training :rolleyes:

Thu, 1 Jan
Time to get some speed back in the legs so I decided to do some 800's at a (slightly) quicker pace than my normal plodding. 3*800 and 5miles in total. reps were pretty slow but at least the pace was going in the right direction!
4:11 / 4:07/ 4:01

Sat, 3 Jan 2015
Wicklow Masters Cross Country
It rained ALL NIGHT and though it had stopped by the time we headed out to the park, the ground underfoot was just pure mucky slushy sh1te. Cross country is not exactly my favourite event, but its a real club thing so I really feel I need to participate - even though I'm never in scoring range :rolleyes:
The ladies race was 4k, one small loop and 3 big ones. I don't have spikes and in those conditions I may as well have been running in wellies! How I managed to stay upright I'll never know, but I performed allright, about half way down the field and the team got the gold! Great stuff.
With warmup and cooldown that was about 4.5 miles

Followed up with some bouldering at a new place on the southside of the city. Good fun, but my shoulder is still not quite right so I was wussing out of anything that might put too much pressure on it

Ah well...

Sun, 4 Jan 2015
Long run - 1hr30min with the girls, covering about 9.5miles.

Mon, 5 Jan 2015
Easy recovery run
Legs were a bit tired from the heavy running at the weekend so this easy 5 miles felt a little bit harder than it should have.

Wed, 7 Jan 2015
Had a rest day Tuesday so needed to get out for a few miles. It was p1ssy and murkey and I needed to go to the chemist to collect a prescription for one of the kids, So I stuck on my gear and ran there - 3 easy commuting miles. Great way to force yourself to just get out!

Went climbing with hisself after dinner and got in some top and lead rope routes. I find it much less stress on the shoulder climbing with the ropes, but it's been a while since we did any Lead ropes that the first climb was atrocious! I think we probably looked like we were total beginners! But we redeemed ourselves (I hope) with the next couple, and finished off by doing some speed top-rope routes.

Thu, 8 Jan 2015
Lunchtime Pilates and then Club session in the evening. Big turnout for the first one back after the Christmas break and the boss sent us off to do 3x800, 3x500, 3x400's to get some pace back in the legs. The order was to do the 800's at about 10 mile pace, the 400's at about 10k pace and the 500's somewhere in between. There was a fierce wind out there but we were mostly sheltered on the route, except where we passed a gap and got nearly blown backwards / sideways / whichever. The pace for my reps were:
3x800: 07:37 / 08:21 / 07:23
3x500: 07:29 / 07:19 / 07:29
3x400: 07:19 / 07:21 / 08:01

Can you tell which way the wind was blowing?

The last 400 as into the wind, and uphill, and I was foooked :P, so I'm just ignoring that!

Good session and happy enough with the pace. Just over 5.5miles for the session.

Emer911

Friday 9th No Running
A small bit of bouldering with the kids and some of their friends. Nothing major. Was feeling a bit of a pull in the shoulder so was a wussing out on anything that might be a risk there

Saturday 10th Aborted Tempo Run
Woke up with a headache but told one of the girls I'd meet her for a tempo run so went anyway. Managed to do one mile but couldn't do the pace and had to call it at that.

Walked for a bit, jogged a bit and recovered okay so did another half mile and did a cool down lap. Felt a bit off for the rest of the day.

Sunday 11th Long Run
Still a bit iffey but went with the gang for a 10 mile loop up and over Killiney hill. The plan was to do the hill (slowly) and just turn back then if things weren't feeling good. 7 of us in the group, and very varied paces, and I was fully ready to be left behind on the hill... and I was, for a bit anyway. We were all a bit strung out going up it, but I wasn't bringing up the rear this time, so that was nice for a change!
Got to the top of the hill and actually felt okay, so kept going. Actually managed the full 10 miles and felt quite good at the end.
Really really happy with that one! Great to have company, even if we did break up and have to regroup a few times.

Afternoon climbing with himself at awesome walls. Just did lead ropes today, but got in 4 good climbs each and had a nice buzz going

Summay
Good running this week, even if there was a bit of a blip on Saturday. Hopefully that was just a viral thing and it's gone on it's merry way at this stage. :rolleyes:

Weekly Mileage | 27.29 miles
Month to date | 45.87

Emer911

Monday Rest Day
After a decent weekends running (and cause I was being a bit precious after feeling so awful on Saturday!) I decided a rest day would be the smartest thing.

Tuesday
Had planned to do a run with some of the club mates but once the snow came down I wussed out

. So did the rest of them

Wednesday
Windy and stormy and I couldn't face going out in that, so headed to the gym for at least some sort of training! Only had an hour so it was tight. Did some treadmill running and some bike stuff before jumping in the car (still sweaty:rolleyes:) to collect mini-me. Think it was about 6k on the treaddie at 1% incline in XXX time?!

Thursday
Lunchtime pilates - the usual torture

Was supposed to get to the club session but was late at work and didn't get out in time to get there. Just ate and sat on the couch instead

Friday
Went to the Wicklow Star Awards evening in place of training. Sometimes you just have to make sacrifices for the sake of the club

Saturday
There was a 5k tempo training run organised for the park at 9am so decided I needed to do that (especially given the crap weeks training I've had!)
It was icy cold and slippy underfoot in places so it was definitely a bit stilted and not at all the relaxed pace run it was supposed to be. Ah well. About 4-5 miles with warmup and cool down.

Went up to TheWall for their first bouldering comp in the afternoon and had a blast. I only got the easy baby climbs done, but the others did really well and mini-me even got a prize. The free pizza at the end was a nice touch too

Sunday Long Run
Did the Killiney hill run with the gang again but ran a bit before and a bit after to take it to 11 miles for the day. Still very slow going up THAT hill but the overall pace for the run was marginally faster than last week and the last mile we upped the pace again, so that was good. Felt good after too.

Summay
Crappy weather does not really help with the training, and I let it best me this week - must try harder! But the weekends training was good and I think my strength is getting better.
Raheny 5 mile next weekend. I really haven't done anywhere near enough pace stuff to give this a good go, but it'll be a good training race,and a baseline for my fitness, if nothing else.

Weekly Mileage | 19.12 miles

Month to date | 64.99 miles

Emer911

Monday 19th Rest day

Tuesday 20th
Rainy evening and I was glad I had arranged to meet some of the guys so I didn't have any time to think about it... Just got home, got into the gear and hit the roads. 5 of us did the out and back to Bray seafront, but I stopped briefly to chat to someone en-route and myself and my companion lost the other 3! We ran on to the turnaround, didn't seem them, so assumed they'd turned off and headed back a different way? Got back and the cars were still there - oops! Well I guess they'll be blanking me the next time there's a group run :rolleyes::o
Just over 5 easy miles in the rain

Wednesday 21st Nada

Thursday 22nd
Lunchtime Pilates with lots of squats and push-ups to make the top and bottom equally tired. :P
Club training in the evening. A group of us were booked to run Raheny 5 mile on Sunday so an easy run was all that was on the cards for us. Did a loop of just over 4 miles with a few strides for good measure.
After the training and a quick bite of dinner, we headed over to Awesome Walls for a spot of bouldering with the kids - quality family time.:D

Friday 23rd Another rest day

Saturday 24th
3 easy miles in the park on a lovely spring morning. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, there was fresh cinder on the trail paths, and the snowdrops were making an appearance under the shelter of the trees. Quality stuff - this is exactly why I run.

Sunday 25th
Raheny 5 mile today (report to follow). With the warmup and cooldown it was about 7.5miles.

Summay
Not a big mileage week this week, and a lot of easy running, but with the race at the end of the week I wasn't too worried about it.

Weekly Mileage| 20.42 miles
Month to date | 85.41 miles

Emer911

I'd only agreed to do this cause one of my running buddies suggested it as a good warmup for Ballycotton. Well I haven't done this as a race distance since 2012 (!) so I signed up. The morning of the race dawned bright and calm but with the start time of 3pm I was a bit unsure of what to eat and when. After consulting with my personal running guru, a bagel and nutella was consumed around 12:30 and that was it until after the race.

We collected our travelling companions and got to Raheny with the car reporting a balmy 12c and no wind. Perfect running conditions, so no excuses. It was my first time running this course and everyone had been regaling me with details of the course - the crowd congestion, the parked cars, the elbows, the coast road (the wind!!), THAT HILL, the finish line pass by... It was so talked up that I was dreading it a bit actually. We parked up, collected the numbers (easy peasy) and headed to the changing rooms where we met up with some more clubmates. Was just setting out on a warmup and ran into MarthaStew who was looking chipper and cheery as ever. 5 minutes later I passed Claralara and Digger who were out to do a spot of spectating so had a brief 'hello'. Dubgal was doing her warmup thang too.

Headed back to the changing room to drop the warm up gear and make a pit stop before dashing out to the start line. Squeezed into the corral but we were way back so set about weaving our way up a bit. When the gun went we were still a fair bit back (too far back!) but them's the breaks.

Started with a bit of a squash and I stuck to the road as loads of folks split off onto the path. If I'm doing a 5 mile race, I'd prefer to run the full course...:rolleyes: There was a bit of weaving, but I think I managed to keep it fairly on course. The first half mile or so had a few corners, and lots of speed ramps, and with the congestion it was a tad slow, but I wasn't running to the watch so didn't notice. I didn't have a a goal time for this but reckoned around the 40 minutes would be fair, but I wanted to just run by feel - no pressure.
First mile 8:05.

Don't know the area at all so I hadn't a clue where I was running - just following along with the crowd. Loads of spectators along the route and the marshals were fantastic. Started passing walkers around the 2 mile mark (they started before the main race) which was a bit strange, but they mostly kept to the left and out of the way of the runners. That was nice.
Mile 2 8:00.

Bit of a downhill on mile 3 and there were a few haring off but I kept my pace steady (couldn't do much else really!) and kept the rhythm as best I could. As my watch beeped the mile (remember I wasn't looking!) someone asked me if I had a split for the last mile - a bit random, as my split was hardly going to be the same as his as I came up behind him!

But I looked...
Mile 3 7:58.

The 4th mile runs along the infamous coastal section - beware the headwind! But no, there was no wind, so no problems. Rounded the bend and hit THE HILL as we climbed back up towards the village and the final stretch. Got a great shout out from Super Joe, Digger and Claralara as I pushed up the hill. It was NOT as bad as all that!
Mile 4 8:01

As the Final mile closed in the pace was edging upwards, but the crowd was also getting a bit tighter. The last few bends towards the finish got a bit mad. One girl actually cut right in front of me as she headed to the path (to cut the corner?) and I actually stood on her heal - not my fault! She at least had the grace to apologise. Round the next bend and the road narrowed and I had to hold onto the runner in ahead of me as they slowed and I didn't - and there was nowhere to go. A bit messy, to be honest. The final bend is just meters before the finish line and I ran under the clock and stopped the watch. Final mile 7:47

My watch time clicked over at 39:51 and I was delighted to see the sub 40. Met RachelJev in the finish shoot and she was cursing blue heaven about 5 seconds over the 40 minutes... pretty close though Rachel - not too shabby!
Caught up with the clubmates and tucked into the tea and biscuits in the hall and the goodie bags, of course!

Unfortunately the official chip time came in at 40:00, so it's no sub 40 for me. :mad::( But it is a PB - the old PB from 2012 (41:27) was very soft and definitely ready for a crack.

Don't know if it's really that fast a course, especially given the crowds and that chicane circuit at the end. But I am glad I did it. The race was really well organised, well marshalled, lots of refreshments after and some weird and wonderful prizes for top end of the field (Krusty brought home a George Foreman Grill). An interesting way to spend a Sunday afternoon in January.

Sure what else would ya be doing? :cool::D