My Running Chaos

barryoneill50 wrote: »

Nice PB, well done. Did you feel the 12 miler the next day?

Cheers Barry, the 12 miler wasn't to bad. A small bit tight/achy for the first mile or two but loosened out after that grand. Took it easy today though as you can see below, just eased back a bit

Friday 15/05/2015 No Running

Saturday 16/05/2015 No Running

Sunday 17/05/2015 7 miles @ 8:19

Ok so, Friday and Saturday saw no running due to an unforeseen event at home. It also meant no long run today

Any thoughts of the portumna forrest marathon or half for that matter I'm putting off as the training hasn't been there really and training may be interrupted in the short term future.

Squeezed a 7 mile run in this evening to clear the cobwebs....

Tuesday 19/05/2015 3 miles ( 5k ) @ 6:21

Race 4 of the series brings us to Claregalway. I'm not feeling the love for this one as I wouldn't rate it as a PB course as it starts with a climb for the 1st km. This, along with a bit of a bunged up feeling in the head had me thinking just give it a solid effort and see what happens...

The Race... Off we go....

As I stated earlier, the start of this race has a decent climb to it. My plan was not to go to hard and try to hit the 1k mark around the 4 min mark but no faster. After setting off I spotted a girl who I knew would be hitting this pace to the second so I took a punt and just stayed with her for the initial climb. True enough, hit the 1k marker at spot on 4:00. This makes me very happy indeed Had a bit of a tailwind to help me up the hill though tbh
Turn heft and continue on down a slight downhill section to finish the first mile. Mile 1 6:21

Mile 2 starts with a slight drag for .3 of a mile, followed by .3 of a mile of a sharp decent, followed by the remainder of the mile relatively flat. Kept the workrate up during this mile. Breathing slightly effected by my nose seepage, yes my bunged up head had cleared somewhat and seemed to be leaking from my nose (sorry for detail ). Few people pass me on the decent as I'm not to good running downhill fast I think. My legs are turning over at a good rate but stride length is short. I have a fear of jarring my back as I have suffered before with my back. Still happy enough It must be said. The level section brings some respite but working hard to try to keep position now and breathing a bit heavy. Slight headwind on this section(we turned left again for the flat section). Mile 2 6:18

The third mile arrives with the knowledge it's relatively flat from here on in. Working hard now and breathing is a bit erratic at times before I try to relax and get it under control again. Felt pb was out of reach here and kind of eased back a bit. On reflection this is the worst part of the race. There was nothing to indicate a pb was out of the question, I didn't know what kind of time I was on for so I'm putting this down to loosing a mental battle with myself and throwing the towel in a bit. I Keep working away but the fight is gone out of me as a few people pass me. In my head I'm settling for somewhere between a PB and sub 20...
Another lefthander and its about 200 meters up the road to the finish line. Lose another couple of places on this run up and a third guy joins me for the last 50 meters and I just kept going, didn't even throw in a sprint at the end. Got a shock when I look at the clock as I crossed the line. Mile 3 6:24

Splits 6:21, 6:18, 6:24 (6:08) Official Chip 19:31

Thoughts... Despite the bit of negativity in the report, I'm actually quite happy with the result. To get within 3 seconds of a pb, feeling the way I did and on that course leads me to believe I can knock more of that time over the last two races. Next weeks race is the galway (city) one, and the venue has been switched from the racecourse to the airport. Should be relatively flat but may be exposed. I'm targeting to go below 19:20 over the next two races.

Sunday 24/05/2015 10 miles @ 8:05

Nice little trot out today in fine weather Not just casually saying it was nice, I kept thinking how lucky I am to be able to run. There are runners out there injured and unable to run, and there are those who haven't discovered the joy it can bring. All to often I run and just forget about how lucky I (or anyone) am/is to be able to run, no matter at what level.

I'm sure all this happy hippy soppy stuff will end as my weekly mileage increases.. Managed 30 miles this/last week :eek::eek:

Tuesday 26/05/2015 3 miles ( 5k ) @ 6:14

This weeks 5k sees a change of venue from the racecourse to the Airport. I was thinking this could lead to a fast time as this was flat as far as I knew and the only thing that could hinder a good time was the wind as the course is pretty open as you can imaging. A few of the lads I work with had some reservations about this venue but I couldn't see what the problem was....

Got to the airport with about 40 mins to go and did a bit of a recce of the runway and checked out wind data .
Runway was fairly flat as I suspected (genius ) but there was a slight dip at one end but not bad. Wind was slight, but noticeable, and would be a crosswind for the entire race. This turned out to be a real pain in the ass, really annoying. I never thought it would irritate me so much

So to the race.. Given the location and nature of the race, it turned out to be pretty soul destroying. As soon as we took off and spread along the racing line, I found little love for it. So little happening around and all you could see was a stream of runners on the other side of the runway.
Went out fast and settled into it fairly fast. Mile 1 6:08
Midsection was more of the same, passed a few people and my dreaded bunged up nose needed clearing again. The sooner this head clears up the better. Working hard but fairly controlled. Pace dropped a bit here but I didn't notice it at the time.Mile 2 6:16
Third mile started of the same, tough but managing well enough. At about half a mile to go though it got noticeably harder all of a sudden. Kept going but could feel pace dropping way of at this stage. Keep trying to dig in but I'm being passed by maybe 20:eek: people from about 2.5 mile on. Keep going and a bit of a battle for the last 50 meters with another lad(which I lost), and crossed the line wrecked. Mile 3 6:19

Splits 6:08, 6:16, 6:19 (5:54) Official Chip 19:28 (1 second PB :rolleyes:)
Thoughts... Didn't like this at all. I don't really know why, it felt more like a time trial. Happy with the effort levels and perseverance , but still feel like I should do a little better.
1 race to go which is in Tuam next Tuesday. Will not be as flat as this week but more like roadrunning. Still going to go for under 19.20. If my head clears up a bit, and I go more into a racing mentality , it is doable I believe.
Also, did I mention I feel a bit lardy?? Need to trim down a bit, hitting around the 82-83kgs ATM:eek:

Alright Meno, how things
I'm 95% sure I won't do Portumna, there's just that 5% of a devil on my shoulder that keeps telling me to do or try something unplanned
Training has been broken lately with plenty of missed days due to family circumstances and long runs haven't really been there lately either. This is why I'm not to keen on doing it. My mara PB from DCM '14 is a bit soft as I feel I had a fairly bad day for that one

Either way, I'll want to do something soon enough to see where about I am so I can get some plan and training paces in order for DCM'15.

Friday 29/05/2015 7 miles @ 8:09

Didn't think I'd get out today so this was somewhat of a bonus run
Hoping(fingers and toes crossed) to get a long one in tomorrow....

Sunday 31/05/2015 7 miles @ 8:20

Legs didn't feel bad at all after yesterday so took a handy 7 miles
today and just relaxed into it. Felt good throughout and afterwards.
I've mentioned before about that devil on my shoulder getting my to do stuff.
Well, I think Meno was filling him with beer as I just caved and entered Portumna marathon "Just in case" I get the opportunity to do it. Not a certainty, I'll have to see how things are at home, but it's becoming more of a possibility shall we say
I think if I do it, it could go either way. But I'm sure I'll be able to take some knowledge from it at least... And, as they say, knowledge is power

Monday 01/06/2015 Rest

Bulmers74 wrote: »

Hope you get to toe the line in Portumna Marty. When I saw the 19 going in on Saturday I was thinking you'd give it a go.
Don't forget you've still some business to attend to Tuesday night. I still have ya by 4 seconds but I'm expecting that to be blown out of the water! No pressure

G'way ya scut ya I'm not sure "blown out of the water" is on the cards, but if I can get anywhere near your time I'll be happy enough. Lets hope the wind calms down
As for portumna, hope to get around in.... say 3:30-3:40ish... cough cough... It's all about taking part

Tuesday 02/06/2015 3 miles(5k) @ 6:18bit late stopping the watch

Ok this weeks instalment is the last race of the Galway 5k series which was held in Tuam. Bit of wind today had me a bit apprehensive about the race but was determined to give it a good lash anyway no matter what.

After a bit of a warm up I lined up near enough the front, perhaps 4-5 rows back. Was trying to get my head in the zone when I caught a glance and a quick hello from who I believe to be our long lost poster Doco12. By the time I snapped out of it we were ready for the off and I never got the chance to acknowledge her properly ....

The race...
Went out fairly hard considering I told myself to start with caution. Felt good but took a while to control my breathing. A bit of dicing for positions at the start as you'd expect, but it all soon settled down. At the 1k mark I glance at the watch to see 3:45 :eek: Holy sh1tballs, to hot.. Reigned it back a bit but pace still a bit hot for me I think. Mile 1 6:09

Second mile started after a nice downhill section so didn't feel to bad here. Breathing under control and effort was strong but manageable. A slight drag of an incline here but legs didn't feel it to much. Mile 1.5 - mile 2 was relatively flat so tried to get a bit of pace going again after my slowdown on the bit of a drag. A bit disappointed here to see my pace had dropped as it wasn't a particularly tough section but I plough on regardless....Mile 2 6:24 :eek:

Third mile arrives and I'm working fairly hard here. Working hard and breathing a bit uncontrolled at times, but I just try to maintain a bit of a rhythm as I know there's a nasty little hill around the bend(between mile 2.2 and 2.5 going by strava). I work really hard to keep it going up this section but it's draining every last bit of out of me. Got a shout out here from a workmate which actually gave me a real fright the roar from her, certainly woke me up a bit . After cresting the hill I knew it was more or less downhill to the finish. I tried and tried to pick it up a bit more but was seriously struggling at this point. The penultimate turn at the 2.8 mile mark saw me get a bit of a stitch. Pace was still lagging at this point so the stitch wasn't very bad and eased off pretty soon. The last couple of hundred meters I'm blowing a gasket, but eeking out everything I have left. I'm fully aware I must look like a right freak but this time I don't care about cameras, every last second is crucial. Crossed the line somewhat strongly, but more than likely looking like a crazed deranged prison break fugitive Mile 3 6:22

Splits 6:09, 6:24, 6:22 (6:13) Official Chip 19.22 (6 second PB)

Thoughts are fairly positive. A bit more fight in me today even though the legs hadn't much fight in them at the end. The head was willing to push on. I'll go back and do another couple of 5k races a bit later to try to get sub 19:20 mark but for now I'll leave it there. A nice experience as usual even though the racing was tough at times.

Friday 05/06/2015 7 miles @ 8:04

Saturday 06/06/2015 Rest

Sunday 07/06/2015 10 miles @ 8:04

Monday 08/06/2015 7 miles @ 7:35

Not much to say on these runs, just went out to get some miles in when I could. Right calf a bit tight this evening, will get foam roller at it tomorrow.

Can't believe I'm down for running a marathon on Saturday. Think I've finally lost it