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Turning a mule into a race horse.
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Pacing Mule wrote: »No ! But I remembered a few posts from here mentioning their dislike for runners so gave the couple I did see a wide berth
Loved your visuals above, exactly how i felt earlier in the week too
and yes, the canal is MUCH easier starting in the opposite direction 0 -
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Pacing Mule wrote: »Bob Heffernan 5K
So this wasn't a goal race per se. I entered it simply as a test to see if my ultimate target for this block of sub 22 was doable. Goal race in 4 weeks.
Met up with Meno, Yaboya and Adrian522 up at the start line which was a good km of a jog up from the car park / finish area. Meno gave me some advice about the course and advised me to not run the first mile any faster than 7:00. There is a slight incline at the start and the advise was not to go off to fast as it may bite you later on. Meno told me afterwards that he could see I was nervous before the start - and he was right. For some reason this race really hit the nerves hard.
Grand so. Lined up a little back from the start, the gun went off and I hit my watch roughly at the start line. Things went off fast enough but I felt pinned in and not making enough progress. Glanced down at the watch after a few hundred metres and saw 6:30 pace :eek: Eased off a fraction. At this point though 5ks were easy. I mean this was easy and comfortable and great and I was so in control.
And then it started to get uncomfortable. Progressively uncomfortable and onwards to very uncomfortable. First mile beeped in and I was happy to see 6:50 - It meant I could pull back a little and still be in 22 min range.
Mile 1 - 6:50
We'd taken the first turn left before mile 1 had come up and I was expecting the road to flatten out or go downhill but it was actually a little undulating. I actually found the course tougher than people had made it out to be (but more likely because I was at my own limit) A shower of hailstones arrived at this point and everything was going tits up. About halfway the contents of my stomach were threatening to make an appearance. I had stomach cramps, wasn't breathing properly, was getting hailstoned on and I contemplated DNFing or pulling it back completely. Said to myself no - just tough it out. Run as fast as you can. Hold on. And this is your last race.
Watch beeped. Looked down. Pleasantly surprised.
Mile 2 - 7:10
On one hand I was happy to see I was still on for 22 min despite the slow down but on the other hand I knew I had a very tough last mile to hang on for. Stopped looking at the watch at this stage and concentrated on running. Hung onto the group in front of me. Watched their legs and just tried to keep up. My heart sank at the 500m to go sign. I honestly thought we would have about 250m to go at that point. Also the road has a few all be it small bumps in the road that just served as further punishment. I've seen elsewhere on boards tonight comments of flat as pancake course - mine wasn't !!! but again I guess that's all about your own state at the time.
Mile 3 - 7:15
Watch beeped for 7:15 but I didn't see it at the time. Kind of regret the not looking at the watch during that last mile as if I'd realised how close I was maybe - just maybe I might have squeezed something out. As it was though I mustered up a tiny improvement of pace - by no means a sprint finish coming in for the last .1 at 7:07
Mile 3.1 - 7:07 pace
Watch time 22:04
Gun time 22:10 (no starting mat)
Spent a good 2 minutes on my hands and knees in bits afterwards. Random strangers asking was I alright
:D. Met up with the gang from here (finally meeting Tom Joad too which was great) and the general consensus seemed to be a tougher race than normal. Epic spread as normal with club races. Unbelievable value for this race. Nice cool down mile ran with the lads too.
So a big PB for me. And definitely on target training wise for sub 22 in 4 weeks which was the ultimate test / aim for tonight. A tiny tiny bit meh about the 5 seconds. Would have been very sweet to come home under 22 but overall I'm very happy with it. I don't think I left 5 seconds out there effort wise if I'm honest. Enjoying a PB beer whilst typing this.
Great run!0 -
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Was away on holidays for the past week. Before going had a chat with the artist formerly known as ECOLII here about the general state of the heels and plantar fascia. He advised avoiding hills if at all possible on holidays. Where we were staying is hilly. There was no avoiding them at all. Did 3 laps of the local block for 5k @ 9:18 pace in 36 degree heat and it was a real slog. 100ft of climbing up and down in each 1 mile lap. Anything further away from the hotel meant even worse hills to contend with. Second day I went out the heels and ankles were screaming at me so I elected to leave it at 1 mile lap that day as a leg loosener and spent the rest of holiday excercise time swimming in the pool instead. No long run done.
Wednesday
Flew home late Tuesday. Decided to pick up the plan where it was. 5@MP called for with easy warmup and cooldown.
5 @ 8:35 avg pace bang on.
I had been thinking of doing my first ever park run this Saturday (I work every Saturday so this is a rare Saturday to be off work whilst still on hols and be in the country) but have decided it's not worth it. I can't compromise the long run 2 weeks in a row and racing a 5k and doing 15-16 miles of a long run on my legs is asking for trouble.0 -
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Had me a 14 mile LSF (Long Slow Fail) today.
Set off to do a planned 16 miler today. Wasn't feeling particularly up to it but had to reschedule to today. Probably should have listened to my body but thought I was just wussing out and grabbed a dose of HTFU. 3.5 miles in I got the worst stitch I've ever had but ploughed through it. Was keeping the effort level easy but pace was slowing from mile 5 onwards. Wasn't too concerned as this was coming back from the very bottom of the Phoenix Park. But pace slowed and energy levels drained despite taking a gel after mile 6 - the first of the year ! By mile 10 I had slowed over 10:00 pace and it wasn't that I was keeping it easy. Was absolutely drained. Was walking by mile 11. Went to a shop and got a bottle of Lucozade and a Catch bar - a childhood favourite ! Took a few minutes out and continued on my way but shortened it down to 14 miles. No real benefit to doing 16. But even at that it was a slow and painful.
9:26, 9:34, 9:33, 9:31, 9:44, 9:57, 9:53, 9:57, 9:50, 10:06, 14:04, 10:48, 10:32, 10:02
It was a bad day at the office for sure. Not going to dwell on it too much. A positive in keeping on going for another 3 after being tempted to call it a day. Lashed 13 out of it last week easily so it's not like I can't do it. Just one of those that don't work out !0 -
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Interesting stuff going on here P. Keep up the good work. Man I love those catch bars!
Oh me too. Have been craving more since but I'm back on my diet now. The holidays saw quite a few lbs put on.
Since I'm here ...
Wednesday
1 easy, 4 MP, 1 CD
Very tight squeeze time wise today. Home from work with a 1 hour 15 min window to get a run in, showered and changed and back out the door for a dental appointment. Am on babysitting duty tonight so this was the only time available today. Was quite tempted to postpone as I was feeling knackered after work and the sugar leaving the body from the diet is leaving me a little light headed and certainly isn't helping that but schedule wise tomorrow isn't looking too good for a run either. Ended up walking the cool down which was a little short of a mile. The 4 MP was grand at first but was starting to be a struggle by the end. To be expected considering the tiredness.
9:37, 8:37, 8:44, 8:40, 8:43, 14:50 walk0 -
Friday
In keeping with the revised medium steady / long run alternate I had 10 miles to do this weekend with a steady pace to maintain either side of the warmup and cooldown. Big family social occasion on Saturday meant I brought this forward to Friday evening after work. 9 steady miles done. Route was a loop out from the house which meant a downhill first third, slight rise second third and a solid climb back up for the finish. With that in mind treated it like a race and ran the first bit a little faster planning to lose a bit of time later on. Had to stop after 6.5 miles to stretch out a cramping calf. Watch paused for the stop so the split isn't accurate.
8:22, 8:28, 8:56, 8:52, 8:48, 8:55, 8:55, 9:00, 8:59
Overall found this quite tough tbh. Thoughts of racing a half marathon are not very appealing at the moment :pac:
Saturday
Beer mile training. About 3.5 miles worth of beer training. Not good.
Sunday
4 miles @ 9:34 avg
Nice opportunity to run from the family home. Raging hangover or not the run had to be done. Got to see the tail end of the ironman swimmers. Out the pier in Dun Laoghaire and back again up through Sandycove. Was a lovely morning for a run. Hangover didn't dampen it too much either 0 -
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Happy Birthday to me.
Thought I'd share this awesome biscuit cake my sister in law made ...
Theme was "slave to running" - will be quite impressed if anyone can see where the slave reference is in the cake. It's a little obscure (Had to be explained to me :pac:)
Down to see Kevin at The Run Hub in Ashtown and a brand new pair of Saucony Triumph acquired.
4 easy miles on the plan done on the way home. Avg 9:22.0 -
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