Confessions of a never has been.....

06.03.2015

AM - Up and at it nice and early this morning, I had that Friday feeling after a very busy week in work.
Found myself running a little too quickly over the first mile on this one and reeled it back for the rest.
No idea of the pace but it was mostly easy, 4 miles


PM - Took a slightly longer than normal route home from work this evening on account of an SOS sent out by my bro - I had to collect a set of keys from his GF who was out with her buddies for a night out, I'm sure the sight of me rocking up to the bar in my running gear didn't put them off their food in the slightest :pac:

Enjoyed this one, there's a grand stretch in the evenings out there !

5.5 miles easy

Total for the day: 9.5

tang1 wrote: »

Superb running this morning D, thats a great time. You looked comfortable to!!

Thanks Tang - I think that's my close to passing out look as opposed to my comfortable one !

Dubgal72 wrote: »

That's a nice time you got today, well done! Heard it was tough going too so even nicer

Thanks DG - it was tough in stages alright, I was hanging on a little at times, delighted and slightly surprised if I'm honest with the result

paddybarry wrote: »

Great result and progress Duanington. Well done.

Thanks P - its all about the progress alright !

Calvin Johnson wrote: »

Very impressive DD.

Thanks CJ - good things happening over on your log too at the minute, keep up the good work

Ososlo wrote: »

Delighted for ya D! Good to know what you look like now if I see you in St. Anne's!

Thanks A - yep, look out for the skinny dude gasping for his last breath, that'll be me :-)

09.03.2015

Saturday

Busy day in the garden on Saturday which never, ever fails to leave me shattered - who needs core workouts and chin up bars?
An aul shovel and sweeping brush seems to be just as effective !
When the opportunity presented itself in the evening, I headed off out along the coast for 4 easy miles. I didn't sleep
too well the night before which had left me feeling fairly sluggish throughout the day. This of course, translated
itself into a mild sate of panic over the first mile or so, I was lethargic and just not feeling the love.
Where had my fitness gone? How would I race tomorrow? What was I thinking? Those two late nights\early starts earlier in the week had stolen it from me,
like a sneaky thief in the night damn it. Of course it hadn't and I promptly kicked myself in the hole and got on with a few strides.
Felt good by the end and commenced eating everything in sight before hitting the hay for an epic sleep
Total miles: 4

Sunday

AM - Bohermeen 10k race

Up bright and early and got my usual pre-race breakfast on board - porridge and tea...and a bit of yoghurt too ( my new infatuation).
I had promised to bring my youngest along with me to Bohermeen for the spin, she had no interest in watching me run but her auntie ( my sister) was coming
along too and she had every interest in hanging out with her for a few hours. Car packed, passengers loaded, off we headed for the Royal County.
Bohermeen wasn't actually my race of choice this weekend, I have run Kinvara each year for the past 2 years and love the race. Its not an easy course and
is quite exposed to the Atlantic wind in places but the scenery\atmosphere is a bit special so I was gutted to miss out this year ( left it too late to register).
I also know the course quite well now and it really poses a good test of your fitness\strength but it also has a few downhill stretches which let you open
up and test the pace in the legs. Kinvara was out the window now though and thoughts turned to Bohermeen. I didn't know the course, didn't know the area too well
and had no real idea of what kind of test it would provide.
I had a pretty straightforward plan in my mind all week about racing this weekend - to get under 39 minutes. Going into Bohermeen, I had a 10k PB of 39.36
which I had run while training for the Waterford half ( in the middle of a heavy few weeks mileage wise), I knew with the way work\travel\flights had worked out earlier this week that it would present an oppurtunity to ease up a little, take a stepback week and target a good race at the end of the week with few miles in the legs.
I've had some really good training over the past few weeks and with fresher legs, I had hoped to sneak in under 39 minutes - anything other than that would be a real disappointment.
Getting down to Bohermeen was pretty straightforward thanks to mr iPhone! Once we got parked and located the clubhouse ( which serves as a community centre too - great idea),
I said my goodbyes to the ladies and headed off to get a warmup done and soak up the atmosphere a little. I made my way to the starting area and ran a few out and back loops, other than the jovial spirit, the most obvious thing about the day to me was the wind - it would certainly have its say on the outcome for most taking part in some respect.
Spotted TbL ( or rather he spotted me!) during my warm up and stopped for a quick chat - glad to see that I'm not the only one thinking that he is looking fit as a fiddle, he also has that steely look in his eye these days, like a man on a mission. After wishing each other well, I headed off to finish my warm up and focus the mind a bit more.
I tend to drift a bit before races and during the early stages, I've taken to focusing on getting the very basics right before worrying about anything else, running, breathing, arms swinging, good foot strike - it really helps to keep any pre-race nerves at bay.
Taking my place in the starting area, I was actually taken a little by how relaxed I was - no jitters at all. I changed the watched to KMs, agreed with myself that 3.55 was plenty good for the first few KMs before taking stock of the situation.

After a slight delay, the gun went and we were off
The first KM of the race was downhill with the wind at our back so I resigned myself to the fact that this would be a little quicker than planned. Somebody had mentioned to me before we got started that the race was basically a loop of the village, left, left, left and left ( I think!) - we would be facing the wind at some stage so whatever we gained here, I knew we would lose later on.
I settled into a group of runners pretty quickly, taking to the front of the group with another lad, judging by the shout outs from the supporters at one of the carparks as we sped past, the leading lady was in our group too.

1KM down and I was feeling good, the field was a little bunched and the pace was quicker than I had planned but I felt strong, we climbed up a short hill, then dropped again for a good stretch before swinging left, the roads were winding now with thick heding and trees minimising the effect of the wind. I was enjoying this, staying calm and focused, concentrating on the basics and not worrying too much about pace or possible outcomes.
The field started to thin out pretty quickly as we moved through the 2nd and 3rd KMs, after a sharpish left turn, we turned onto a pretty long drag and it became very clear that the wind was about to have its say for a lot of people.
All around me I could hear people blowing hard - I was too but not in the kind of way that means I'm in trouble, my gasps for air were slightly less desperate than the couple of guys I found myself running with. Heading into a stretch of road that had little or no cover from the wind, I found myself running alone, there was a small group of 3 maybe 30 metres ahead so I decided to catch up with them and avoid suffering alone. I was starting to feel the pinch now and had a pretty good idea that we were going to be running into the wind for another while yet.

Having caught the group without having to speed up too much, I settled into a good rythm again - running with the group provided that "suffering together" syndrome rather than that "what the f*ck am I doing" that I tend to get when racing alone.
I could see the leading group stretched out ahead from our position in the field and prayed silently for that left turn that would bring us relief from the wind. The effort at the halfway point was beginning to enter the red zone, I was working hard, starting to blow but moving very well - I kept finding myself focusing on the wind and how unfair it was, poor me, why today? If only that left turn would appear.

"Shut up and f*cking run D" - I actually spoke the words to myself under my breath much to the amusement of one of the lads just behind me, I run every single day of the week most weeks, in rain, hail, wind, ice ...whatever...this is no different - "get on with it !"
I gave up the self pity act, settled down and went back to basics again, footstrike, rythm, breathing...got them all under control again and started to creep away from the little group that had formed, taking 2 of the lads with me. Before 2 long, 3 became 2 and I was running side by side with a very strong looking guy, he had been breathing very heavily earlier but seemed to be tough enough to fight his way through it and was looking like he meant business now. I stuck with him and we ploughed on together.

I was aware that the pace had dropped quite a bit over the middle section but I was also aware that this was expected, I had gone a little too quick over the first section, was probably going a little too slow now but I was confident that if I could ride out this rough patch, I would have it in the legs to make up some time over the last 1 or 2 KMs.
Up and down we rolled over the hills, twisting and turning along the route, all the time battling into the wind, not a word spoken between the two of us and yet I noticed we were actually matching each other stride for stride. I was having to work hard to keep this up and just when I started to doubt how long I could keep it up for, an oasis appeared up ahead...the left turn, that shiney, beautiful, welcoming left turn!
My companion dived down the hill towards the turn and I tucked in behind turning sharply to the left and onto a flat stretch - the relief and silence was instant.

The wind was gone, I could actually hear my breathing ( although it didn't sound very good!). I felt the pace creep up over the next 500 metres, I wasn't going to relax on this and neither was my buddy - I had suffered for the last 15 minutes or so and I didn't want to waste that. I had lost all track of pacing times but I knew that sub 39 was most defintely on now.
We crossed the 8k mark and I was feeling good, I knew that I could hold this pace all the way to the end, the signs for the village were just up ahead and
that in itself gave us both a mental boost.
The 9k mark came and went, that pinch was back, was that a stitch developing too? F*ck it, no turning back now...shut it all out and stick with this guy...I had been turning the screw for the past km and now it was his turn, he eased ahead by a few metres. I didn't care too much about catching him, I just wanted to finish strong and squeeze everything I could out of this one....that pinch was now a grip though, this was hurting bad.
"only 500 metres to go" someone shouted...."****, there's still 500 metres to go?" I thought, we moved alongside the carpark where dozens of runners were making their way up to the starting area for the half.
I spotted Marthastew ( and Mr Stew I assume) who gave huge shouts of encouragement as we ran past. The community centre was up ahead, we'd finish on the track - I wasn't sure earlier and had asked myself as much earlier in the race. The crowds were thick now and the roars of encouragement were fantastic, there was one last sharp left to go to take us onto the track for a quick finish home.
I stole a quick glance up at the clock just before we jumped onto the footpath for the left turn - I couldn't believe it, that clock definitely read 37.xx...my running partner was out of reach now but I wasn't wasting this chance so once I crossed the grass and stepped onto the track, I put the boot down and dug deep to finish. I heard TbL call\laugh my name just before crossing the line......
Before checking my time, I shook hands with the guy who had pipped me too it and thanked him.
Chip time of 37.45 - a big PB and a BIG surprise.....
....for a few minutes at least - then I reminded myself that this really shouldn't be a surprise, that I spend a lot of time banging on about how we tend
to limit ourselves with numbers in both training and racing. I worked hard for this time both in training and during the race - it was no fluke

Had a quick chat with TbL who more or less said the same thing. Well done on another fine run by the way TbL, you're putting in the hard work now and I genuinely have no doubt it'll pay off.
I couldn't stick around to watch the half as I had hoped - ran a very short warmdown and then had to dash back to Dublin for a family dinner in the afternoon.

Splits from the race:
3.44
3.44
3.48
3.56
3.50
3.56
3.57
3.42
3.36
3.31

PM
Headed out late last night for a few recovery miles, still buzzing from earlier to be honest. It was a perfect night for running and I couldn't help but wonder how
people would have fared given those conditions ( chilled air, no wind etc).
Legs felt ok surprisingly but I kept it all reaaaal slow. Came home stretched a bit and ate another dinner.
5 miles very easy to bring the total for the day to 14 miles - a very good day but its history now!