A Slow Journey to Faster Times

Sunday 22nd March - 180 minutes Easy
23.56m @ 7:38p/m average (146bpm avg)

Second rest day of the week yesterday. I could have got runs in on both occasions (Thursday also), but felt I'd only be covering a few miles for the sake of it and the rest would leave me better refreshed for the more important sessions like this morning. I took the TbL approach today, using the RSL to check availability for a running companion. TRR_the_turd obliged me and we agreed to hook up for at least some of my run on a sensational summer's day. It panned out perfectly with the run split into three, some lone miles either side of the middle eleven which passed pretty quickly in company as always. The majority of the run was fairly comfortable. We chatted away for most of it, but I must admit I was really gasping for some water in the last couple of miles. I suppose that's normal in the circumstances. Usually I'd expect to keep the HR between 135-140bpm on these runs, but considering:

a) It was pretty warm
b) I wore black
c) I wore a base layer
d) I took on no fluids
e) I was talking for a lot of the run (and running with a 2:35 marathon runner)
f) The route was undulating

I'm happy enough with the session and 146bpm is hardly gut-busting. Delighted to get 70.7 miles done for the week too with the two rest days.


Splits:

Mile 1 - 7:25
Mile 2 - 7:42
Mile 3 - 8:14
Mile 4 - 8:15
Mile 5 - 8:08
Mile 6 - 7:53
Mile 7 - 7:37
Mile 8 - 7:50
Mile 9 - 7:44
Mile 10 - 7:36
Mile 11 - 7:29
Mile 12 - 7:31
Mile 13 - 7:31
Mile 14 - 7:33
Mile 15 - 7:26
Mile 16 - 7:36
Mile 17 - 7:31
Mile 18 - 7:32
Mile 19 - 7:14
Mile 20 - 7:19
Mile 21 - 7:25
Mile 22 - 7:22
Mile 23 - 7:42
0.56 - 4:27

Monday 23rd March - 65 minutes Easy
8.04m @ 8:05p/m average (122bpm avg)

I was anxious to get a run of some description in today, just to shake the legs out after yesterday if nothing else. I decided to test out a run up by the Bohernabreena reservoirs, which is basically on my doorstep. Both ecoli & TRR have recommended this route to me recently. I took it very easy, ignoring the pace and HR knowing that it would never be too high with the effort I was putting in. It made a refreshing change to run an unfamiliar course with nothing to guide me but a yellow man on a stake with an arrow every so often. When I reached the turnaround point I ran a little further towards the mountain's peak just to make up the little bit that would round up the eighth mile at the end. It's pretty strange up there. Country roads only big enough for one car (I had to stand in a hedge to let one pass) and little houses with postboxes outside and fields in between. It reminded me of a scene from Postman Pat. This is only four miles from Tallaght which is almost a city in itself! A very scenic, enjoyable afternoon's work. I may be back


Splits:

Mile 1 - 7:37
Mile 2 - 8:31
Mile 3 - 8:21
Mile 4 - 8:16
Mile 5 - 8:23
Mile 6 - 8:05
Mile 7 - 7:41
Mile 8 - 7:47
0.04 - 0:19

RacoonQueen wrote: »

What marathon are you doing?

Hamburg.
Same day as London.

Thursday 26th March - 70 minutes Easy
9m @ 7:55p/m average (132bpm avg)

I meant to run home from work yesterday but a few things got changed around meaning I had to drive, and after spending more than an hour in traffic getting home I just wasn't in the mood of heading back out into the horrible night outside. I really should have run in this morning, but felt 2 x 9 miles in one day might be a bit much (that's changed!), so I used public transport instead. Left home at 6:50am and only arrived at the office for 8:25. So frustrating, especially considering the beautiful morning outside which would have made for a very pleasant run. I did run home, taking it nice & easy completing the same journey back up the hill on foot in seventy minutes. I think I may be doing it twice daily a lot in the future. I hate commuting :mad:


Splits:

Mile 1 - 7:52
Mile 2 - 7:59
Mile 3 - 7:56
Mile 4 - 7:48
Mile 5 - 7:58
Mile 6 - 7:59
Mile 7 - 7:54
Mile 8 - 7:49
Mile 9 - 8:00

laura_ac3 wrote: »

Get a bike and alternate the commute between cycling and running?

Are you trying to get me over to the dark side?
Next you'll be telling me to buy some lycra for the cycle, park the bike at the Point and swim the remainder across the Liffey :pac::pac:

Very frustrating morning at the Ardgillan parkrun in more ways than one .

Will post report later.

tang1 wrote: »

Hope its nothing serious P.

No, nothing serious at all.
Similar experience to Krusty on his first go out there. Was on for a good time in difficult conditions too. First ever DNF, but I thought it was the right thing to do as I had basically taken a short cut by accident.

On to Hamburg....

Saturday 28th March - 2.58m @ 5:49 average (14:59) DNF

After a change in working hours and a rare Saturday off, I decided on racing a parkrun to see how close I could get to my current pb. After my car got written off on my way to Skerries two weeks ago, myself and the g/f had sat in a café out there sipping coffee & perusing their nice looking menu. We agreed it would be nice to fit in the nearby Ardgillan parkrun some day, before rewarding ourselves with something nice off the tasty looking menu afterwards. As it happened, today was that day.


Pre-Race

I felt great going into this. I've kept my mileage pretty high in recent weeks (bar Cheltenham week) and was pretty fresh having only covered a few easy miles with strides on Friday evening. I knew from previous reports this was a tough course and a pb was unlikely, but I thought I might give it a go in the right circumstances. When we arrived around 9am, the gale that was blowing made that seem a whole lot less likely. My plan was to chase the leader and try my best to take it up myself at some stage. I'd no idea who/what standard of runner would show up, but felt I'd be in the shake up for first finisher. I didn't want to lead from the start as I wasn't sure of the course and knowing Krusty had taken a wrong turn here a few months ago, I was conscious of the same thing happening to me. I guessed there was a fair chance I'd end up on my own during the race, so studied the course carefully on the website beforehand. At the start line I felt as ready as I'd ever be.


The Race

I lined up at the front and when we got the go ahead was immediately in second place chasing the early pacesetter. I knew after 200 yards I was going to be in the first two. It was only a matter of which of those positions I would fill. The leader and myself were pulling further & further clear from the minute we jumped off. I never looked behind, but could hear nothing as we careered down the hill in the first mile. I detected from watching the guy in front that he knew the course off by heart. He moved from side to side on the paths, always running on the least rocky sections and taking the best racing line. I thought as long as I kept him in sight, my worries of taking a wrong turn somewhere would be unfounded. As we moved down towards the lowest point of the course I heard the watch beep for the first mile. 5:13! I was flying, but still a good twenty yards behind the frontrunner. As we turned back on ourselves at the bottom of the hill, I could see that I was much further ahead of the third placed runner than the leader was ahead of me. The only question now was whether I could catch him, because nobody behind was going to catch me. We moved up and down through the trees, twisting and turning until we got to the far end of the vast estate. Back up towards the point where we had joined the big loop and the second mile beeped at 6:01. I knew the last mile was the toughest with a punishing incline to finish, but felt I'd be able to pull something out of the bag with the line in sight. As we turned at the bottom for the final time, the leader had taken another 5-10 yards out of me. There was nobody behind me. I must have been at least 500/600m clear of the guy in third now, but him and the chasing pack were nowhere to be seen. As we moved back into the trees twisting and turning I could no longer see my nemesis in front. I was now in exactly the position I had dreaded from the start. Unsure where to make the final turn before we covered the last half mile back up the hill. I remembered from the website that the second lap was slightly shorter than the first and guessed there would be some sort of sign/arrow. As I came to a fork in the road, knowing I had gone right the first time, I guessed it should be left this time. There was no sign/arrow though, so I continued right. Then I looked at my watch. 2.44m. Surely if I completed another full lap along with the climb back it would be further than 5k? If only I'd kept tabs on the leader I'd know for sure. I stopped and asked a girl who was on her first lap. She didn't know. I did a U-turn and took the turn, assuming it would put me back on the right track. Just as I was about to emerge onto the path again I saw the leader flash by from right to left meaning I had taken the wrong course. I wanted to continue to the finish anyway, but didn't think that would be fair in the circumstances as I had basically taken a short cut (unintentional as it was). I stopped to a walk, disgusted with how everything had gone. I was as certain as I could be that I'd have broken 18 minutes on a tough course in very windy conditions. It was a few seconds before I got around to stopping the watch, so it was showing 6:29min/mile pace when I did, but I had been moving around 6:10 pace in that mile (having completely stopped and turned around). Assuming I'd held that pace to the finish, I'd have broken 18 minutes. The winner finished in 17:56, but he looked behind before he started the climb to the finish and saw me walking, so I'm pretty confident he eased off a bit.


Post-Race

I trudged home slowly back up the hill, my feet getting wet in the grass. Not my morning! The g/f also failed to finish, pulling up with a recurring hip injury. Probably not the course to return from injury on. In the nicest way possible, I let the volunteer at the finish know I had taken a wrong turn informing him that the website course map was incorrect. He said he was aware of that, but that they had no control over the website. I wasn't having a go at anyone but just felt it would be better if the organisers knew about something like this, especially considering I know it's happened to at least one person before me. He told me they had been a bit confused considering I was so close to the leader going into the final lap, only not to be sighted after that but that confusion had also been cleared up now. Hopefully similar situations in the future can be averted.


Thoughts

I could spend all day thinking about the little things that went wrong, but I'm not going to. The Tupac quote on TRR's log from after Bohermeen probably describes it best. Fact is I would have run 17:5x/18:0x on a tough course/windy morning. I didn't because of some minor confusion.
That's it.