Mum on the Run

Tuesday – Mile TT @ Alsaa

Not a huge amount to be said about this. It reminds me of my quest to go sub-35 for 5 miles last year. I got there – eventually :rolleyes: – and this target of sub-6 mins seems to be proving even more of a challenge. So, being nothing if not pig-headed stubborn determined, I’m going to stick with Operation HTFU for another 8 weeks or so before switching to base building, after which the plan will be to go for 10 mile and half marathon PBs in the race series.

• 3.5 miles incl. 1 mile @ 6:15 (track). Meh.

Wednesday – S&C, Easy

Intermediate level Pilates with some advanced moves thrown in by the instructor (at which I failed spectactularly, advanced requires co-ordination unfortunately). Good class all the same.

Headed along the promenade for my now customary ‘post pilates plod’. Legs were heavy enough so just took it easy and enjoyed the scenery. Met Murph_D out for a casual stroll. No signs of taper madness there – I predict great things for Monday. Murph told me to keep an eye out for Annapr who was on the Bull Wall and sure enough we ran past each other just after I’d crossed the Wooden Bridge. Still had a bit to go before I could turn around so it was just a brief exchange. That was probably my most sociable run in ages .

Rest day tomorrow and I definitely need it. The usual pre-race jitters (Road Relays on Sunday), pains and niggles (real and imaginary) are setting in now so I’m going to try a proper taper for once and see if that makes a difference.

• 5.0 miles @ 9:09 (grass)

TOTAL WEEKLY MILES: 30.6

Kennyg71 wrote: »

Best luck in Road relays, will be down to have a look, which leg are you doing.

Thanks G! Final leg in the old folks race . See you there hopefully

Dubgal72 wrote: »

You don't know how happy you've made me

Hmmm, not sure I'm getting this taper business right...rest day yesterday, check. Fancy lunch with wine today and no running as a result, hmmmm .

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Oh and ps, how did you find the 'mental pain management' aspect of the mile? I think longer distance pain management techniques can interfere with this distance, i.e., you put off pain for as long as poss but because a mile is over so quick, you are then caught on the hop. Does that make sense?

I think the mile is more about pacing rather than any sort of pain management. In my (limited!) experience the pain arising from going out too fast ain't gonna be managed by even the most magic of magic wands. The mile is over so quick that even though you can put up with anything for 6 minutes, if the body simply won't move any faster due to consequence of going out too fast then all the pain management in the world won't help you HTFU. Not sure if that makes sense but I feel like I will only crack the mile when I get my pacing right, not when/if I learn to manage the pain

Kennyg71 wrote: »

The only pain will be feeling of l could off gone faster, run like fook and never
look back:D then put your lungs back where they came from.

I'll try that so

tang1 wrote: »

Your bound to have a race your not happy with every now and then BG, not saying it was a bad race just one your not overly happy with. Best of luck in the Road Relays Sunday, your in great shape for it.

Thanks Tang. Nervous but looking forward to it.

Murph_D wrote: »

Good luck Sunday! No better woman for the anchor leg. All the best.

The pressure :eek:. My fear is that I'll lose about 10 places on my leg .

Kennyg71 wrote: »

Last time you did this course up hill felt like down hill so, should be a good one.

Hopefully it's not the opposite this time :rolleyes:

RedRunner wrote: »

Best of luck Sunday BG. Hope to be there myself too.

Great, see you then!

Neady83 wrote: »

Wishing you great things for Sunday BG, hope it''s a good one for all the team

Thanks Neady! Much appreciated.

HelenAnne wrote: »

Best of luck on Sunday. See you on that final leg!

I'll see your heels in the distance if I'm lucky :pac::pac: See you on the start line. So nervous, how about you ?

annapr wrote: »

You go girl!!! You'll do great.

Thanks, Anna. I'll do my best :eek:

hillsiderunner wrote: »

Good luck BG (and Helen .. hmmmm, is it possible to be wishing both good luck on the same leg ). Guessing it is 1k or 1mile in which case all more racing practice for the sub-6.

Thanks, Hilly. It's a mile (and a bit :rolleyes:). And don't worry, Helen will be so far ahead it'll be like she's on a different leg, so no conflict there

denis b wrote: »

Best of luck BG on Sunday. Something about running with a team that gets the best out of you.

Cheers Denis. I agree, it matters more so you make yourself give more. Definitely don't want to let the team, or the club, down.

Thursday – REST

Scheduled.

Friday – REST

Not so scheduled

Saturday – Easy

My attempt at a taper – 20 mins easy with some strides thrown in. Nothing to do now except endure the taper madness until tomorrow afternoon :pac::pac:. But of course I’ve Junior parkrun in the morning to take the edge off

Doing the first leg of the relay now instead of the last :eek:.

• 2.3 miles @ 8:44 incl. 6 x 20 sec strides (grass)

Murph_D wrote: »

So no BG-DG showdown? Pity!

Gwan the Cru. All the best.

Ha ha, we both ended up on Leg 1. You can imagine the rest .

Sunday – Road Relays

Was a big bag of nerves before this. Not a fan of afternoon races at the best of times, but after a hectic week of chasing my tail, eating whatever and whenever I could AND patchy sleep, I was in a heap. I was even late for junior parkrun this morning, most unlike me :rolleyes:. Fast forward to an hour before the race and I’ve managed to convince myself I shouldn’t be running, I was going to be last, let down the team, blah blah…oh the demons! Again, not really like me, I do love to race. Just letting the occasion get to me.

Got to Raheny, got my number from Coach who calmed me down. Met Dubgal and wished each other luck. She also reminded me to breathe which was excellent advice as I really was in danger of forgetting to at that point. Did a lap of the route to warm up and then some strides in the park before hearing the call to the start line. Aargh, it’s real ! 18 teams on the start line. Bang! We were off like hares in a trap. Straight away there were two distinct groups and I found myself at the back of the first. Fairly relaxed up to the first corner (or so I thought – apparently BG Jr was shouting at me here at the top of her lungs and I didn’t see or hear her so I must have been in the zone :cool:). Took my first and last glance at the watch after about 400m, saw 5:37 min/mile pace and slowly applied the brakes. No way was I going to be able to keep that up :eek:. I thought I’d lose the group, and of course the speedsters including Dubgal had taken off, but I was surprised to now be in the chasing pack and still feeling ok. Passed a Tallaght runner at this point who I know from always being well ahead of me in races so got a confidence boost. There were about 5 of us in the group now and we stayed close together pretty much to the handover. Got a great boost from the club supporters around half way including one of the coaches who told me later he was surprised to see me up there. I was surprised too ! 400m to go and I just focussed on our group of 5 and trying to make up ground but I was running out of steam. Turned the last corner, with maybe 200m to go, really trying but make up ground but just about holding position. Spotted our leg 2 runner and made a beeline for her, hand outstretched like a lunatic. Never been so glad to tag someone else. She ran a stormer, as did our final leg runner who had been drafted in at the last minute to replace the original runner who was too unwell to run and we finished with a team total of 26:01 for the 4 (and a bit) miles and 11th team.

Such a great event and a perfect day for running too. Hats off to Dubgal and team for their deserved win and super performances all around.

The Stats:
Official time for the loop 6:17, watch time was 6:15 (same 2 sec discrepancy as Dubgal I think?). My watch gave me a time for the actual mile (loop is slightly longer) of 6:10 which would be a 4 second PB if it was official . I was equal 9th position on my leg (the Raheny B runner and I were given the same time) and there was only a few seconds between 6th and 9th place.
Am I happy ? You betcha! None of us on our team could have done better on the day, we all gave 100% and finished in a respectable position. After years of watching this race and finally getting to compete, it is now on my list of favourite races and I will be hoping to make the team next year and improve on that performance.

• 4.5 miles including 1 mile leg for Road Relays (concrete)

Monday – Easy

A relaxed plod up to the Wooden Bridge and back. Body feels fine. Have an ongoing twinge in my foot (silly shoe related) that the physio says is nothing more than a strain and it’s improving and not impacting my running. Will keep an eye on it.

• 6.0 miles @ 8:44 (path, grass)