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Running in the Real World
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Saturday, March 12 : 45 mins easy
7.4k @ 6:09; 4.5 mi @ 9:53
Took advantage of GAA training again this morning... What a difference an increase of 8 degrees and sunshine makes to everyone's enthusiasm. Left the u-8 hurlers doing their warm up and headed out to Dollymount and back. Thoroughly enjoyed this run... Topped up on Vitamin D, negative ions (at the beach) and endorphins all in one go. Who needs artificial drugs?
(other than caffeine of course).
Refreshments in the clubhouse after... Old Gaelic tradition of crisps and minerals for the 'athletes'. Oh well.
I'm in danger of running 4 days this week, unless I wimp out tomorrow!0 -
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Sunday, March 13: 90 mins easy
14k @ 6:28; 8.7 mi @ 10:24
Very nearly sabotaged myself today. Woke up with a slight sore throat, feeling groggy and lacking energy. Almost convinced myself that I shouldn't run, but finally copped myself on and got out the door.
I was listening to a podcast about motivation and success yesterday, apparently some research shows that if you talk to yourself in the second or third person, you're more likely to motivate yourself to meet your goal... 'Anna get your arse in gear' proved more effective than 'I really should go for a run'
The plan called for 90 mins, I told myself/herself I'd at least do 60. Headed out the coast as the sun was setting behind me, through St Anne's and back in. Beautiful evening, there was mist rising from the sea and lots of people out enjoying the day... the smell of vinegary chips on a nice evening beside the sea, so tempting. Home in the light of the moon (OK, and many streetlights too, it is Fairview after all).
All felt good and relaxed, slowed down to take a call from our eldest, which lasted 48 mins, making me look like I was talking to myself again! Finished with a bit of a spurt, which felt good. Delighted I didn't wimp out after all.0 -
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Sunday, March 20: . 60 mins with 20 @ tempo
6.34 mi @ 9:28; 10.21 km @ 5:53
After a good week last week, I was very lazy all week...
Finally went out before breakfast this morning knowing it was the only way to be sure I would go. Tuesday's run on the Clearlier plan was 60 min with 20 @ tempo, so I decided to do that a few days later than planned. I had programmed it into the watch with the minimum pace for the tempo at 5:20/km... Roughly 10 mile pace.
Did the 20 minute warm up, feeling clunky and slow, then launched into the tempo section on the sea front. As I settled into it, the pace felt fine and the dreaded beeping that I was going too slow didn't happen. Turned back at 10 minutes, and then talked myself out of stopping before the 20 mins were up. The effort here was more mental than anything else. Relieved when the watch signalled the 20 minutes were up.
The cool down was the longest 20 minutes ever, but happy to see the splits when I got home. Almost the same average pace as the Terenure 5 mile last May, but I couldn't have kept it up for 41 min today! Still, that's encouraging.
I also checked the log for the first time I did this session last year and I couldn't maintain 5:30/k for the 20 mins, so I haven't completely gone backwards... Only in commitment!
Splits
Warmup: 20 min @ 6:21/Km; 10:13/mi
Tempo: 20 min @ 5:12/km; 8:21/mi
Cool down: 20 min @ 6:15/km; 10:04/mi0 -
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Monday, March 21: 45 mins easy
7.15 K @ 6:20; 4.4 mi @ 10:11
Extended my running streak to two days with extra smugness added due to going out again before breakfast. Headed to the seafront at 6:30am for this one. Did not feel energetic. In fact on the way back I had a moment of wobbliness, a bit light headed. Carried on and was fine, despite visions of myself collapsing in a heap.
This felt harder than the tempo run yesterday.
Nice morning, cold, some friendly runners about.0 -
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Saturday, March 26: 50 Min Easy
8.38 k @ 5:59; 5.2 mi @ 9:37
Home in the hills for Easter, did the local loop this morning, managing to miss all the showers. Just read an article someone shared about hill training, so tried to practice high knees on the uphills, incorporating some hill sprints, sort of.
Felt good and strong the whole way round... Enjoyed seeing the primroses and the lambs... And the sun has come out now too.
Watching the HM world championships... 67 min for the women!! Amazing to watch. And Paul Pollock in 16th at 15km...0 -
Sunday, March 27: 13 km @ 6:28; 8 mi @ 10:25
Lovely morning, sun still holding off the threatening dark sky... But cold and breezy. Headed off full of the joys of Spring, startled a pair of pheasants near the house, stepped over plenty of frog roadkill...
After about 30 mins came to a crossroads... If I keep going straight, it's up a big hill, left is up a longer big hill... Right also looks like a big hill but I've never gone that way before, so why not. I can now confirm that while this might not be the biggest of the three hills, it's definitely the steepest... It felt like I was running to stand still, so I had to resort to walking a few times, which was still hard work but seemed quicker (wonder is that right?). It was almost worth it for the view at the top of the ridge, looking south over Donegal Bay.
I considered whether to keep going to hit 45 mins before turning for home, but the road was steeply downhill and I couldn't cope with turning and having to make it back to the top, so I turned at about 43 mins instead.
Coming back towards the crossroads I spotted a rare sight around here -- another runner. He was going even slower than me... I was really hoping the need to overtake would coincide with a downhill, but no such luck. I puffed past and we had a little chat about... The hills of course.
Considered adding another 6 mins at the end but convinced myself that the effort made up for what was lost in time. My slowest mile was 12:05 ! (Incl 229 ft climb), immediately followed by my fastest mile of 9:40, with guess what, a 228 ft drop. That was the scariest one, I was afraid my legs wouldn't move fast enough to keep up with gravity. Ended up just laughing all the way at the ridiculousness of it all.0 -
Monday, March 28: Rest (planned as opposed to through laziness)
Tuesday, March 29: 5 X 3 min @ 5K pace with 3 min recoveries
8.2k @ 5:55; 5 mi @ 9:31
I was actually looking forward to this session, programmed the watch for 25 min 5k pace (well I did that last week but never did the session... Oops). Still in the hills though, so I knew this was going to be challenging. I considered driving to somewhere relatively flat (about 10 miles away :rolleyes:) or adjusting the pace range on the watch, but then said no, feck it, I'll do it on our local loop and not waste time messing with the technology, especially without broadband!
Eyed the weather all morning and timed it very badly, setting off as the rain was blowing in from the Atlantic. I could see it coming and almost turned back but talked sense to myself and kept going. Did almost 10 minute warm up, determined that the first interval was going to start on a downhill...
Reps...
1: oh, this is easy, I know it's mostly downhill but I could do this all day, doesn't feel like 3 minutes, slow down a bit... 4:53/k; 7:51/mi
2: that 3 min recovery felt long, oh look, this one is starting on a downhill too, good planning... A bit more of an effort but not bad... 4:49/k; 7:46/mi
3: the recovery went a bit faster this time, a bit more undulating, working harder to keep the pace, watch beeping a bit.... 4:58/k; 8:00/mi
4: bloody hell, why did I plan it this way, second half of this was up one of the worst hills... Watch getting more annoyed now, buzzing away... 5:07/k; 8:14/mi
5: was that really 3 mins recovery, aaargh, this is the worst uphill... Shut up watch, I don't care if I'm not in the zone... Pause to recover and take a brief break at 1:30... Then suck it up and get up the last steep-ish hill... Relief that it's all over 5:20/k; 8:35/mi
The sun was out briefly as I cooled down, but arrived home soaked, worn out and happy.
Tough session, annoyed that I didn't make it all the way through the 5th rep without pausing, but while I didn't hold the pace, the effort felt like 5k for sure.
I'd almost forgotten how perversely enjoyable these sessions are.
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Wednesday, March 30: 45 minutes easy
7.3 K @ 6:12, 4.5Mi @ 9:58
I could feel the energy in my legs this morning after yesterday, might have been imaginary but still... Felt good!
After explaining to the 5-year-old what hailstones are and how much they hurt your bare legs, headed out in sunshine only to be attacked after 10 mins by... Hailstones and a bitter wind. :eek: I eyed the sky suspiciously wondering if this was a signal to turn back, looking for any possibility of shelter if it got worse... Very dark ominous clouds overhead... Tiny lambs were sheltering under their mothers, no such options for me. Not many trees around here. Decided I'd give it another few minutes...
Great decision because I finished the run in glorious sunshine. Other than the hailstone scare, felt relaxed and enjoyed every minute.
Last run in the hills for the moment, I really have to stop defaulting to the sea front in Dublin, it's just too flat. I might have to give up working again too, much easier to get the runs in without work getting in the way. 0 -
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Murph who?
Jazus, maybe Mrs TbL should start logging, might help her with her sense of humour!
After a couple of weeks away, eating out every night she says to me on the plane, "I think I've forgotten how to cook", deadpan and without looking up, I replied "might be a blessing in disguise dear", she's still not talking (or feckin cookin) to me
Well done on the pb
TbL0 -
Saturday, 2 April: Poppintree parkrun
Official time 27:20. 5:35/km; 9:00/mi
Headed up to the 'Mun for an easy run...This felt harder than it should, made me worry about how Dunboyne would go. Then again, for some reason 5k's always feel hard, even when doing them as an 'easy' run. As usual at parkrun too, this was at the faster end of easy pace. Nice to catch up with Belcarra and his better half before and after. Expert marshalling by aquinn, whose energy was a bit of a shock to the regulars. D showed off by running up there, doing a tempo parkrun, then running home... He almost lapped me on the third lap but not quite :cool:
Went to St Anne's after to have a look at the BHAA races, missed the women's but saw BG looking very happy with her PB and great placing. Cold and wet getting home.
Sunday, 3 April: Dunboyne 4 mile
I was weirdly nervous before this. I haven't raced since DCM, or trained consistently either so I had no idea how the race would go. I was very jittery before it.
Not helped by the 3pm start, which gave me all morning to fret. I actually went back and read my reports from Terenure last year and other races to reassure myself I could do it. Considering this is in no way a target race and that I had no pressure from anybody, I have no idea why I was nervous.
My 5 mile PB was in Terenure last year... 41:18 or 5:08/km (8:16/mi). But that was off much more consistent training. Decided to aim for 5:12/km and see how I get on. So target time was sub 35, 34 mins all going well. Guaranteed a PB because I never did a 4 mile race before
Got to Dunboyne nice and early, picked up our race numbers without any bother, eyed the cakes that were being delivered to the hall. Left Murph and aquinn to find a cheerleading position and headed off with Laura to find the start line. We were following a group of club runners out of the village when someone asked us was this the way to the start... We don't know, we're following them, we answered. Top notch planning as always... If BG had been with us, she would have done 2 laps of the course by now
Laura had absorbed some info about the course which amounted to something about a flyover and after that 'attack!'. We did a bit of a warmup near the start, interrupted by meeting Firedance. She showed us where she would be marshalling, and said that was 500m from the end (more on that later).
There was a nice little bonfire of what smelled like tyres billowing smoke beside the start line (well, we were in Meath after all) as we lined up and Laura and I wished each other luck. After a moment's silence for various people, we were off.
The first third
Got going well, settled into a rhythm as we went through the village (First shout from the supporters), felt very comfortable on the way up to the first roundabout. First K clocked at 5:08, happy with that.
From the roundabout, there was a long exposed stretch of road, I wondered if this was where we were supposed to 'attack' but didn't see any flyover. I came alongside a Dunboyne runner here, and ran with her for most of this stretch. Something about concentrating on someone else's rhythm and breathing was helpful. I checked myself to see how I was feeling... Breathing a bit heavy but other than that, no problems. I had my mantra going strong already.
The middle third
Came around the second roundabout, still with the Dunboyne runner -- shouts of come on Dunboyne, come on Laura from spectators -- I decided to accept them as encouragement. Coming back towards the village now, still running with Dunboyne Laura, passed the 2 mile mark, thinking great, halfway. Then through the village where we were parallel with the business end of the field approaching the finish line. That was a boost, as was the shout out from the supporters here.
The final third
I knew the 3 mile mark was just after the community centre where we registered, finally got to it and this was the lowest point of the race.
A mile to go, checked the watch, on schedule to hit my target, but bloody hell, I was feeling it now. Dunboyne Laura had fallen behind a bit and Dunboyne somebody else had overtaken me... This was where the inner demons started shouting... You can walk you know, it's ok to stop this, you can really slow down... I could hear the locals shouting to Dunboyne Laura behind me, so that kept me going. Also the mantra worked and a local woman handed out cups of water somewhere along here, which was nice.
Where the hell is Firedance, should be seeing her soon, keep going til then. Finally round a few corners and there she was, roaring, only 800m to go... What? She promised 500m earlier!! :eek:
One last turn and we were heading towards the village again, I knew this was relatively downhill and there would be crowds soon and the finish line, so summoned up whatever energy I could find to get there. I was vaguely aware of D and A shouting at me about 200m from the finish, and the loudspeaker saying sub-34... All out to the finish and the clock said 33:47, stopped the watch at 33:31.
Bloody hell that was hard, but delighted with it. Garmin says average pace was 5:09/8:17. I know it was only 4 miles, and I couldn't have done another mile at that pace, but given the patchy training I've been doing, really pleased to have that under my belt.
I spotted Dunboyne Laura at the finish line and thanked her, told her she really helped me. 'I couldn't catch you', she said. Happy about that too
Gun time 33:47, garmin time 33:31 (no chip time). 83rd woman, 4th F50.
Splits
Km: 5:08, 5:10, 5:07, 5:07, 5:10, 5:18 (4:55)
Mi: 8:21, 8:10, 8:17, 8:23
Laura (not from Dunboyne) nailed her target too, so we were both happy. Nice spread after, very well organised race, I'd do it again... Sub 32 next time!
I signed up for Terenure at the same time as Dunboyne... That's in 6 weeks, if I can get a good solid block of training in, I would be hopeful that I can beat last year's time there. In my dreams, I'd like to go under 40 min, but that might be for later in the year.
I realise this is a long report for a short race, but it was a good confidence boost... And hopefully helps me keep myself training!
Monday, April 4: Rest and back to work
No ill effects from yesterday, other than from eating too much cake after it. Calories consumed were at marathon levels 0 -
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ThebitterLemon wrote: »Jazus, maybe Mrs TbL should start logging, might help her with her sense of humour!
After a couple of weeks away, eating out every night she says to me on the plane, "I think I've forgotten how to cook", deadpan and without looking up, I replied "might be a blessing in disguise dear", she's still not talking (or feckin cookin) to me
Well done on the pb
TbL
Oops, put your foot in it there!. How do you know she's not logging.. 
.
I'm still chuckling at your Brazil meat experience, we had very similar... Never saw so much meat in my life...0 -
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