Sometimes I just need to get out and run

overpronator · 07-02-2015 02:49PM

Great stuff Dave, well deserved.

Ososlo · 07-02-2015 02:57PM

Great work today dave, delighted for ya and well deserved! Lovely meeting you.

Great detective working there knowing who I was and addressing me by name! Still can't figure out how!!!!

ECOLII · 07-02-2015 03:14PM

davemcmahon wrote: »

Rathcoffey 10th this morning. 38:50 on the clock. ~20 second pb. Will do a proper report later.

Great result man fair play

pconn062 · 07-02-2015 03:16PM

Nicely done Dave.

Duanington · 07-02-2015 04:29PM

Great stuff Dave - well done !

Mimojo · 07-02-2015 05:34PM

Very well done!

Tom Joad · 07-02-2015 06:22PM

Fantastic stuff Dave. Well deserved.

davemcmahon · 07-02-2015 07:54PM

Tues 3/02 Club Session:
Plan for tonight was 3 x 6 laps (~1.7 miles). The grass track was fairly hard as it was freezing over. Decided to wear the spikes anyway. First rep was grand, I got boxed in early on and it took a few laps until I could force my way towards the front. One of the lads that was sticking up the front was probably running at his 5k pace so I pushed on a little and was surprised to see him sticking with him. Upped the pace a little further and forced him to drop off the pace (I've been trying to get him to consider his pace for each session rather than racing reps every week) and then pushed for home on the last lap. The second rep was grand for about 100m when I got stood on as I tried to move to the outside of the group, ended up on the ground for the second time in a month thankfully on the grass this time. Got back to my feet helped the guilty party back to his and rejoined the rep. We gradually made our way through the group as the rep went on. The last rep was run at a decent clip. One of the lads had pushed out ahead on each rep so myself and one other had decided we'd push him a bit more than he had the previous reps. He took a lead early on and we gradually closed the gap over the 6 laps and ended up in a race on the last lap.
Rep: 1.7 miles in 11:13 (6:32 pace), 1.7 miles in 11:15 (6:38 pace), 1.7 miles in 10:39 (6:15 pace)

Weds 4/02 30 mins AM and 35 mins PM
Nothing much to say about these. Used them to break in a new pair of the Racer ST5's

Thurs 5/02 40 mins Easy
Headed out at lunch for an easy run around Celbridge. Kept it handy with the race on Saturday.

Fri 6/02 Rest

Sat 7/02 Rathcoffey 10 k

I ran this race last year as my first one for the club and decided then it's a race to do each year. This wasn't the 'main thing' but I wanted to use it as practice for the County Senior race in March and the K-Club in April. I wasn't sure what kind of 10k shape I was in but was fairly certain I could get close to my PB (39:09) from Fingal.

Left the house at 10:20 and was parked and off to get my number by 10:30 (the joy of a local race). Got my number and headed out for a warm up with the lads from the club. Saw a couple of faces and who I thought may have been Ososlo. Got back to the start line and saw her chatting to TRR so was fairly certain it was her. I knew a couple of the lads all had similar goals as myself so was planning on sticking with them as much as possible. Off we went and a couple of us tucking in together with a lad from Mullingar Harriers. The first 5 k was fairly uneventful but the legs were beginning to hurt already. At the 5k mark the MH lad mentioned we'd gone through at 19:04. A touch too fast which I could have done without knowing (being told kinda defeats the purpose of not wearing the watch). One of the Celbridge lads pushed on here and I let him go as I knew if I'd stayed it could have been disastrous (or would it??). I stayed with the MH runner until the hill at 7k at which stage I dropped him. At this stage I was struggling to hold the pace but was determined not to drop too much time. The course was changed a little this year which meant we had a small diversion at about 8.5k down a road and around a cone. I didn't like this bit purely as it meant slowing slightly to make the turn, but it gave me a chance to see behind me and see a good group of lads from the club about 30s behind me. The last km was spent trying to hold the pace and not drop too much time. Turned into the GAA ground and say 38:XX on the clock and pushed the last hundred meters or so and crossed the line in 38:50.

A 19 second PB and 22nd place overall. Bumped in Ososlo after she'd finished (admittedly took a gamble and guessed correctly it was her) had a quick chat and then headed out for a warm down with the lads before going in for the presentation. I'm really happy with the time and hopefully I can take some more off it with a good 10 weeks or so until the K-Club which is the main goal for the first few months.

career move · 07-02-2015 08:40PM

Well done Dave. You've made fantastic progress in the space of a couple of years!

The kclub is earlier this year - Apr 11th according to here

davemcmahon · 07-02-2015 09:24PM

career move wrote: »

Well done Dave. You've made fantastic progress in the space of a couple of years!

The kclub is earlier this year - Apr 11th according to here

Cheers cm that's the date I have. It's 9 weeks from today.

Netwerk Errer · 07-02-2015 09:30PM

Savage running Dave! Well done.

RedRunner · 08-02-2015 12:42AM

Good man Dave. Good to see you back to your best!

davemcmahon · 15-02-2015 01:50PM

Sun 8/02 Rest

Mon 9/02 60 mins Easy,
an easy enough run around Celbridge at lunch time. Had company for the first 3 miles again so they were nice and gentle @ recovery pace. Once on my own the pace went back to Easy pace for the rest of the run. Legs a little tired.

Tues 10/02 60 mins Easy:
Planned on skipping the club session as I knew the legs weren't recovered enough. Spent the morning in Crumlin with the eldest at a check up and then got dropped to work, so the plan was an hour run home. A nice run home through Leixlip and then back in the Dublin road to Celbridge.

Went to put my watch on charge later in the evening to discover it had died, lots of googling and emailing Garmin support and it appears to be fooked. So I'm making do without using a stopwatch. Thankfully I know the routes around here well enough to be able to have a good guess at the distances.

Wed 11/02 45 mins AM and 30 mins PM
Commute to and from work. Wasn't due in til late so took advantage and went for a longer AM run. The PM run was pretty much straight home.

Thurs 12/02 Club Session:
Went straight from work to the track so was there nice and early and got a longer than usual warm up. changed into the spikes and got ready for the session. The plan was for 3 x 10 minutes with 3 mins recovery. First rep was grand started slowly and gradually built up the pace to what felt around HM pace. after the first couple of laps we were going through each lap (~460m) @ ~1:50. My head told me this was probably about 6:30ish pace. The second rep every split came in around 1:49 - 1:50 which was pretty much what I wanted. Last rep the first few laps were 1:50 but then we started pushing it closer to 1:40 for the last few laps. When I got home I did the full calculations which put the paces for the reps at 6:25-6:30. This was a little faster than I would have wanted. I need to get myself familiar with the required splits if I'm not replacing the garmin soon.

Fri 13/02 40mins Easy:
Fairly standard easy run around Celbridge.

Sat 14/02 Rest

Sun 15/02 90 mins LSR:
The legs felt pretty crap the whole of this run. The rest of the family are fighting off colds at the minute so I'm chalking it up to that. Head around Celbridge and then down to the canal at Hazelhatch. Ran down past the Village at Lyons and into Ardclough and then back into Celbridge via the main road. Another lap around Celbridge and back home again. I want to start pushing the distance of these out a little over the next few weeks and get the duration back up to around 2 hrs.

davemcmahon · 22-02-2015 03:34PM

Mon 16/02 60 mins Easy:
Busy day in work, so left the car overnight and ran the long way home. Left work and headed into Leixlip and then down and back into Celbridge along the Dublin road.

Tues 17/02 AM 25 mins Easy
A run into work. Had meant to keep this very easy but am still getting used to judging pace without the garmin.

Tues 17/02 PM Club Session:
Headed down to the club with the usual warm up. Left the spikes at home as the legs weren't feeling great and knew they'd feel better if I did the session in my runners. The plan was for 6 x 2 laps of the outside lane. (~917m). The reps were (from memory): 3:20, 3:18, 3:24, 3:24, 3:24; 3:20. After the second rep I eased back a bit as the legs weren't happy with the pace. The rest felt fairly comfortable so I was happy overall.

Wed 18/02 65 mins Easy.
Was off work so took the opportunity to get my run in around lunch time. I don't remember much about this run as the mind was elsewhere. I don't even remember were I went!! The joys of no garmin. All I do remember was that the legs were feeling good.

Thurs 19/02 50 mins Easy:
Wasn't able to make the club session tonight so just settled for 50 minutes easy around Celbridge.

Fri 20/02 60 mins Easy:
Got out at lunchtime for this. Headed from work and looped around Celbridge and Castletown House.

Sat 21/02 Rest:

Sun 22/02 1:40 Easy LSR.
Really didn't want to get out of bed this morning when I realised I could hear the wind and the rain. Eventually dragged myself out. Had planned on going to the canal but knew the paths would be a mess so stay on the roads around Celbridge and Leixlip and some loops around the ground of Castletown House. Legs were a bit indifferent starting off but woke up eventually, May be time to change runners as they've been feeling grand in the newer pair but meh in the old ones. Longest run of the year so far.

davemcmahon · 27-02-2015 05:29PM

Mon 23/02 40 mins Easy:
Just a standard loop around Celbridge from work and back again through Castletown House. Am on a step back week so no need to go any further.

Tues 24/02 Club Session:
The plan for the session was 4 x 3 laps (0.84 mile) with 90s recovery. Went straight from work so was at the track early enough to get a couple of miles warm up in. The reps were grand, 5:05, 5:07, 5:09, 5:09. Felt like I could have gone faster but was happy with the times. Was going through the first two laps only a couple of seconds slower than on some of the 2 lap reps. A couple of miles warm down afterwards.

Wed 25/02 25 mins AM and 40 mins PM:
The morning runmute was grand, the evening one I was feeling quite tired so struggled a little bit on.

Thurs 26/02 Club Session:
Was running a little early for this so ended up getting close to 3 miles warm up in before we started. The plan was for a 30 min Tempo. I wanted to keep the pace close to HM pace for this so was happy when the 30 mins came in at around 6:38 min/mile. the pace felt fairly comfortable and I probably could have pushed it a bit more. 2 miles or so warm down afterwards

Fri 27/02 40 mins Easy:
Same route as Monday, would have liked to go further but the mileage was already a little high for a step back week so kept it short.

Signed up for the MSB 5k as my next race.

davemcmahon · 06-03-2015 10:22PM

Sat 28/02 Rest

Sun 1/03 60 mins Easy,
Weekly mileage was way too high for a step back week so cut my LSR down to a 60 min Easy run so as not to have the mileage too high. Just an easy run around Celbridge.

Mon 2/03 65 mins Easy:
Left the car in work and ran home the long way. Into Leixlip and then back towards Celbridge on the Dublin road. Was a grand run, legs felt grand but the wind/rain/hail was a bit of a pain.

Tues 3/03 AM 25 mins V. Easy
Ran back into work. Roads were nicely covered with snow which was what I needed as it kept the pace down. Only real issue was when I got into work they had cleared the snow and exposed the ice underneath which made it a little tricky.

Tues 3/03 PM Club Session.
Plan for the evening was 7 x 800m with 90 seconds recovery. Was feeling good during the warm up so decided I was going to push the pace a little more than I have been the last few sessions. The first rep was fairly slow going through 400m is 90s and 800m in 3:01. After that the pace picked up and I was going through 400m in 82-85 s and 800m ranging from 2:52 - 2:56.
Reps were: 3:01, 2:52, 2:53, ???(time wasn't called out), 2:56, 2:56, 2:52. Followed by the usual warm down. I was very happy with the session overall has I feel I'd been taking them too easy and it felt good to push myself a little harder.

Wed 4/03 40 mins AM and 40 mins PM:
Runmute to and from work. Legs were tired on both runs but happily so after yesterdays session.

Thurs 5/03 Club Session.
Took the day of work as the kids were sick so wasn't sure I'd get out for this. Thankfully they were grand by the evening so off I went feeling very tired and drained. Wasn't sure how it would go. The pan was for a 30 min pace run. I planned on going through each lap (~460m) in around 1:50 which should equate to about 6:25-6:30 pace. Kept fairly close to the plan with only some deviation on a couple of the laps but was able to make it back over the following few. Was a much tougher run than last weeks same session. Most of the lads are doing Ballycotton so I ended up doing the 30 mins on my own but a little faster than last week.
30 mins @ 6:26 pace.
Was fairly tired at the end of the session and ended up getting in just shy of 9 miles for the day.

Fri 6/03 40 mins Easy,
Still off work as the kids were still unwell. Got a short window for a run which I took as soon as it presented itself. Just took it handy around Celbridge and then back to the house.

davemcmahon · 10-03-2015 09:12PM

Sat 7/03 Rest

Sun 8/03 1hr 40 min LSR:
Headed out first thing and was immediately surprised how warm it was. Did a quick loop of Celbridge and then headed out the Dublin road and into Leixlip. Body wasn't feeling great for the first few miles but gradually I felt better and by the time I hit Leixlip I was feeling grand. Did a loop around Leixlip and then headed over to the back of Celbridge and into Castletown house. Another loop of Celbridge and I headed back home. I was feeling great for the last couple of miles so I picked up the pace and finished nice and strong.

Mon 9/03 60 mins Easy:
Headed out at lunchtime for this and had company for the first half of the run. This meant the pace was nice and slow for the first bit which finished into the wind. The second half should have been completely into the wind but I quickly changed plan and took a less difficult route.

Tues 10/03 60 mins Easy:
Had to give the club session a miss today due to other stuff on so got out at lunchtime for another easy run. A looping run of Celbridge that brought me back by the house and then back into work along the Dublin road. Pace was a little on the fast side but I was feeling good and was enjoying the lovely day so was happy enough.

davemcmahon · 13-03-2015 06:40PM

Wed 11/03 65 mins Easy:
Held off on this until the weather had improved. Headed out on an out and back course around Celbridge. Pace was a little too fast for the second day in a row so need to be careful to reign the pace in for the rest of the week.

Thurs 12/03 46 mins Easy AM and 35 mins Easy PM:
Runmute to and from work. Pace was fairly easy both ways but the legs were fairly tired on the run home after the previous two days.

Fri 13/03 40 mins Easy:
Took this fairly easy again. I wanted to keep the legs ticking over ahead of the race on Sunday. Just did the usual loop around Celbridge and Castletown house.

davemcmahon · 15-03-2015 10:38PM

Sat 14/03 Rest:

Sun 15/03 MSB 5k:

Legs had been feeling pretty crap the last few days so wasn't really looking forward to this. I realised that wasn't a bad thing as I hadn't really tapered for this, the weekly mileage was pretty much the same as last week up until Friday. When I realised this I relaxed a little and the excitement began to build. Got there early enough in spite of having some trouble getting parking and then jogged over to the Mansion House. Bumped into a couple of club mates on my warm up, on of whom I was hoping to stick with for as much as possible. Also say a plethora of Boardsies warming up. Dropped my gear off at the bag drop and headed to the start. Spotted vanderlyle a couple of rows back from the start so jumped in beside him having met at a few races last year. A quick chat to a RedRunner and the club mates and we were ready to go.

The first couple of hundred meters were fairly congested but once we reached the first turn there was enough space to begin to move through the crowds. The plan for today was to push the pace hard from the off and see where it would get me. So once i got some space I starting moving up through the crowds. Got a couple of shouts during the first few kms but haven't a clue who from. By the 2km mark I was feeling strong but working hard and could see a couple of familiar faces about 20-30s ahead of me and the club mate had yet to go past so all was good. As we approached the 3km mark I knew the pace was getting more difficult to hold and was beginning to hurt. I kept pushing hoping to hold on as long as possible. At about 3.5 - 4km I could hear the club mate behind me and as we turned into the wind I knew he'd tucked his diminutive stature in behind me to take advantage and let me do the hard work. This annoyed me more than it should have and I knew he'd go past before the finish line. In retrospect this is where I started to drop some time. The last km was a slog, I was working hard but knew the pace was dropping slightly. That said as I saw the finishing line and the clock I knew I was going to scrape a PB. Unfortunately I couldn't produce a kick to take even more off the time.

Finished in 18:32 and a 4 second pb. In retrospect I'm happy with the time, a PB is a PB but I am definitely lacking any kind of 5k sharpness (was my first 5k and only 2nd race of the year). A few more 5k's in the bag and I'll take some more time off todays result and more importantly won't mentally accept defeat when a club mate go past again.

Had a chat with some more boardsies again afterwards and then went for a couple of miles warm down around the city since I don't get to run there a lot.

Tom Joad · 15-03-2015 10:46PM

Well done on the PB Dave - plenty more to come off that this year.

davemcmahon · 15-03-2015 10:48PM

Tom Joad wrote: »

Well done on the PB Dave - plenty more to come off that this year.

Cheers TJ. To be honest I'd one eye on your time from during the week and wanted a shot at getting close to it.

Tom Joad · 15-03-2015 10:51PM

davemcmahon wrote: »

Cheers TJ. To be honest I'd one eye on your time from during the week and wanted a shot at getting close to it.

Just copped from the 10 round numbers table that I have you by 8 seconds over 5k and you have me by 8 seconds over 10k. Hopefully will get a chance to run in the same race at some stage soon - would be a good race!

davemcmahon · 15-03-2015 11:20PM

Tom Joad wrote: »

Just copped from the 10 round numbers table that I have you by 8 seconds over 5k and you have me by 8 seconds over 10k. Hopefully will get a chance to run in the same race at some stage soon - would be a good race!

That hadn't escaped my attention. There's definitely a smackdown in the future

RedRunner · 16-03-2015 12:27AM

Great time today Dave. Nice to chat and thanks for the intro to yet another Boardsie.

davemcmahon · 19-03-2015 04:50PM

Mon 16/03 45 mins Easy:
Legs were a little tired after yesterdays race so I was happy to just take it handy for the next few days. Got out at lunch time and kept to the usual route around Celbridge

Tues 17/03 50 mins Easy:
Headed out nice and early to take advantage of the quiet roads. Headed down through Castletown house and into Leixlip before heading back to Celbridge. Left knee was a little sore and seemed a little swollen. Took it handy and spent some time looking after it, stretching and staying off it.

Wed 18/03 50 mins Easy:
Knee was alot better today so headed out at lunchtime. stayed on the trails around Castletown house to take advantage of the slightly softer surface. Pace was still kept fairly easy.

Thurs AM 19/03 30 mins Easy:
Runmute into work. Was a lovely quiet morning with a thick fog keeping visibility down. Headed into Castletown house again and did some more on the trails before heading into work.

A step back week this week so happy to keep the mileage down. Have a race planned every 2 weeks for the next while so I'll reduce the mileage a little to make sure I'm in a good condition for all the races.

I'm in the process of picking a few races for May. Originally I was going to run both the Tallaght AC 5k and Terenure 5 mile but an opportunity has presented itself to possibly run a 3k on the track the 2nd weekend in May. Had a look at last years results and wouldn't be entirely out of my depth and the idea has peaked my curiosity. Will decide over the next couple of weeks which ones I'll do. If I do the 3k it will be the only race I'll do in May and give it a good attempt.

Tom Joad · 19-03-2015 10:13PM

What's the 3k Dave?

davemcmahon · 19-03-2015 10:32PM

Tom Joad wrote: »

What's the 3k Dave?

Its the Kildare senior track and field championships. The 3k has a small enough field but times ranged from 9 mins to 12ish mins last year.

Tom Joad · 19-03-2015 10:41PM

davemcmahon wrote: »

Its the Kildare senior track and field championships. The 3k has a small enough field but times ranged from 9 mins to 12ish mins last year.

Good stuff. It's hard to find 3ks. I have one in May too also county championship.

overpronator · 19-03-2015 11:59PM

davemcmahon wrote: »

Its the Kildare senior track and field championships. The 3k has a small enough field but times ranged from 9 mins to 12ish mins last year.

3k eh..........sounds painful!! Cool to give something on the track a bash though, have you raced track before Dave?

davemcmahon · 20-03-2015 12:26AM

overpronator wrote: »

3k eh..........sounds painful!! Cool to give something on the track a bash though, have you raced track before Dave?

I think its supposed to be painful. Have never raced track but wanted to give it a go and this has definitely planted the seeds to do it soon.

I need to have a chat with the coach and see what he thinks and get some tips off him

Sometimes I just need to get out and run

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