From minutes to miles

annapr wrote: »

are you kidding... i've been going backwards since October

Terenure is a possibility though, I have more exams and weddings in May, I must check all these dates. They get in the way of running

Darren 83 wrote: »

Well done Laura, brilliant result.

Thanks Darren, great to be back at it. Gives me something to focus on now. Good luck in Trim.

Mrs Mc wrote: »

Well done Laura it was a tough one I struggled in all the same places as you good to see you after Terenure a good few months away will be a good one to aim for.

I know, the avenue felt like it went on for ever!! Definitely, time to pick a target and something to aim for. Well done yourself, plenty of time to tick off those goals now, the graduates plan will be great.

Bungy Girl wrote: »

Well done Laura! That's some time for the last mile :cool:. Deffo on the comeback train now, choo choo

Choo choo indeed. Hopefully never making a stop at PF Station again :eek:

aquinn wrote: »

Brilliant going and so delighted for you. Great to read report that you were good and strong and super mile times as a result. Well done.

Thanks. I was happy with how the body felt alright. Onwards and upwards!

hillsiderunner wrote: »

I think that period of injury was just a story made up for boards . Nice race!

Ha, I wish.....trust me - nobody would choose to wear that night sock if there was no reason :rolleyes::cool: Good luck with the calf niggle, hopefully the swimming is keeping you ticking over.

Last week:

Monday: Squash
Tuesday: 35 mins
Wednesday: Football
Thursday: 50 mins
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Intervals
Sunday: Rest

Happy enough with last week. I swapped my long run to the Thursday to accommodate a few bits and I really enjoyed it. Was tiring a bit in the last few minutes but felt very good overall. On Saturday I finally made it down to the meet & train session of my local running club. I wasn't sure what to expect and after a few exercises, drills and warm up jogs we got started. It ended up being roughly 200 metre intervals. The instruction was to run them at a hard but steady pace to leave enough to still push a bit towards the end. We did 7 in total with walk back recoveries and a cool down after. Didn't bother with the watch so not sure how much I did overall. I found these challenging and reckoned the fact they were into the wind and on grass as the cause for leg sapping. It was good to do add a bit of speed stuff again and push myself like this again.

Within a couple of hours though I found myself stricken with full blown lurgy my OH has been afflicted by for the last week or so. Could also explain the lack of energy in the legs at the morning session!!! So I'm not expecting much from the start of this week at minimum. Disappointing as I was looking forward to building on last week. It's a proper nasty cough though so would be silly to try running until I'm a bit better.

Happy running folks :cool:

Another decent week, not in a spectacular training sense but continuing the consistency sense. Dropped back to 4 runs total for the week to try and have them a little rested for the Dunboyne 4 mile race on Sunday and had the "long" (:D) run at the start of the week. Thought about doing something on the Thursday but as it happened I was busy at home and given I was adding faster running for the first time in weeks taking the extra rest day and adding in a different piece of the puzzle seemed like a sensible option.

Monday: 40 mins - Lovely run in Sligo along with the river and through the nearby park. Gorgeous setting, loved this.
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 30 mins
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 30 mins
Sunday: Race

Dunboyne 4 miles

I felt very confident of a PB heading into this. I had a solid 3 week training block behind me, I had tapered with an extra rest day and I had hydrated decently at a work thing on the Friday. Nothing to do with the fact I've never raced a 4 mile before so unless I gave up before the finish a personal best was guaranteed :pac:

In all seriousness I had no idea what to expect. I had planned on doing this a while back and didn't want to miss it and I knew I'd still be capable of giving it a bit of a bash but no clue on what would be realistic to aim for given my weeks off and lack of speedier stuff. Got collected by the D3 bus and was asked what I was aiming for, couldn't give any sort of answer and I had no idea of a race plan. Well organised :rolleyes: I thought maybe if I started with a 9ish minute mile and then took it from there it was as good as a strategy as any. Collected the number and headed for the start with annpr. Jogged down for a bit of a warm up, covering about 3/4 of a mile overall, went to the bathroom again, small bit of loosening out the hip and we lined up alongside what smelt like a lovely burning tyre in the adjacent field.

Mile 1 - 8.32

Off we went with minimal fuss, Anna's goal had seemed it would be too much for me on the day so we wished each other luck as I let her pull away. As expected I didn't see her again until after the finish I felt like I settled into a decent pace from the start, seemed I was moving well and had a good rhythm. Coming towards the village for the first time there was great support, a crossroads of cheering and noise, fantastic atmosphere. Got a shoutout from aquinn and murphd here which was nice and then we settled into a quieter part of the route. I suspected I was going too fast for my plan, checking the watch over a minute or two and seeing current pace varying in the low 8 minute mile territory confirmed it!! I slowed a tiny bit but decided to stick with it and see if I could hang on for as long as possible. Coming up the drag towards the flyover/first roundabout the first mile was done.

Mile 2 - 8.28

Coming off the roundabout I was ready to "attack" the course :rolleyes: I had been given prized local knowledge that this was a downhill incline to take advantage of. In reality I'm not sure how much attacking I was doing, I was beginning to feel that my enthusiastic first mile was a bad idea and it was all going to blow up. I had a mental wobble along here, needed to give myself a talking to and do a check - "no legs aren't sore, breathing heavy but not that bad, is there any reason you honestly can't keep working at this pace? Suck it up...." I had been joined alongside by the same friend who appeared at Raheny. We said very little as we were both in the same boat but having some company was good motivation to keep at it. It was a bit exposed here but the wind didn't seem to be right in our faces. Turning off the main roads and back towards the village seemed to be into a breeze. I tried to tuck behind a couple of people but straight away I noticed it was going to curtail my momentum and stride so I decided to go past and take the chance, I was afraid if I slowed along here I'd struggle to get my mojo again. Finished mile 2 stronger and was happy to see the 8.28.

Mile 3 - 8.30

To be honest I remember very little about this mile. As we got closer I could hear the sounds of the village and I remember seeing the runners finishing their lap as we came back towards the village. Looking for the supporters again hoping for a bit of a boost and thankfully there they were, I definitely think I was less smiley this time around I was beginning to hurt and the breathing was getting more pronounced. Coming out of the village and turning at the 3 mile marker was a very lonely part of the course. I was still happy with the time on the watch though so knew I was in hanging on territory.

Mile 4 - 8.45

I wanted this to be over. My left calf was tiring, I sounded terrible, I began to feel a bit weak, all I wanted to do was walk. Just for a bit. I always feel ridiculous finding these paces tough, especially when I see that for some it's easy, or recovery - it's all relative I suppose :cool: Someday hopefully! I was trying to calculate the mental maths and battle the internal bargaining "well even if you slow on this mile (I had been seeing 9.xx pace at some points) you would still be ok for sub 36, you would have been happy with that at the start....are you still happy with that?" I hit the 800m mark, which offered limited encouragement, it still seemed so far away, passed Firedance on club duty offering enthusiasm and tried to really dig in at this point to keep the pace up. Heading towards the village I was just focused on the fact there would be support there, the fact everyone around me sounded terrible, and I didn't WANT to see a 9 minute mile, I didn't want to settle for slowing that much. I looked at the watch and saw 33.xx and thought feck that 36, sub 35 might be on here, surely the finish can't be that far away, just go for it. Turned at the crossroads, got a great shout again from the super supporters (no idea what was actually said) and tried to put the foot down as much as I could when I saw the line. Can't even remember who was around me or if there was anyone to catch at that stage, I was just heading for that clock as quick as I could.

Official time of 34.47 which I'm delighted with and the watch had me at 34.30 (no chip timing). Very happy with the day. I didn't feel like I battled with many people on the course, it seemed like either they fell behind once I went past or I couldn't keep up if someone steamed by me. I think it was mostly an internal focus and competition today but it was a good race to remember that hurting feeling, so I'm looking forward to the next already. I did slow on the last mile, the limited training was evident at this point but it could have been worse and I think I gave it a solid attempt overall. Might have overcooked it on the first mile but not too much that I couldn't hang on. I'd heard good things about this race and it didn't disappoint. Nice course, well organised, route wasn't congested, tasty cakes after and the village support especially was great. Travelling support also appreciated!

The last few weeks have been about getting back into the routine so I'm starting a new plan now this week, bring it on!!!!