Target Practice

Oh and great to know all that cargo hauling over the weekend didn't do any harm. Might go back to the cute and clunky model now.....

El Caballo wrote: »

Well done DG, some progress over the last year. Flying it!

tang1 wrote: »

Every right to be Oliver Twist if Gold is being mentioned, huge well done DG.

This Fat Girl Runs wrote: »

Congrats on the gold!! Wowsers that's awesome!

Mrs Mc wrote: »

Well done DG it's all happening for you right now

jake1970 wrote: »

Congrats on the win A, looking forward to reading the race report.

diego_b wrote: »

Well done DG, looking forward to the report!

annapr wrote: »

Yes, where is that report DG???

Wild Garlic wrote: »

Knock knock

Ah thanks everyone! Sorry, things are just mental here atm. Mega update coming right up. You'll be sorry ye asked Hint: skip to the end

Mon 30 May
Rest....ish. 12 mile cycle to return other trial cargo bike and 12 mile cycle home with original trial bike while am waiting for order on this baby to arrive.



Is this my mid life crisis manifesting????

Saw the same runner from last week on the dual carriageway and swapped hellos again

No. Heel. Drops :eek:

Tue
Heel drops, knee bends, rear leg lunges and cobras on waking.

Wrecked by the end of today:
Cycle with kids to school, cycle back to granny's to pick up forgotten teddy for teddy bears' picnic....cycle back home for brunch meeting with two strangers I needed to impress, cycle to park for session, cycle to both school/preschool pick ups, cycle home but on the way home stop off in local park playground....contemplated jogging or cycling to meeting later in the evening but good sense - actually all over fatigue - got the better of me.

Ftr, sesssion was:
8x200m @ race pace with 200 jog back rec
Did these on grass so no idea how near 200 they were (used same stretch as last week), approximated and all were consistent. Could have done another two if I hadn't caned the last two Felt good on these, controlled and strong.

WARM UP
- limbering and stand up myrtle first to shake cycle out of legs
- 12 min gentle jogging. Only 12 because of cycling and heat (this was midday)
- short hold stretching of all muscle groups (calves, hip, hamstrings, bum etc. is bum a muscle group?!)
- 4/5 x 80m strides
- Short sequence of drills (running behind schedule for school pick up :eek: )

SESSION: started at 34/35/34 etc then down to 34-33-32

WARM DOWN very short, less than 800m but plenty of slow cargo cycling after :rolleyes: Today was an exceptionally hectic day and there won't be too many like that hopefully.

Wed
Recovery run. Physio session too. Can't remember what I did....

Thur
Tune up session 6x100m. Ideally, would have done these on the track but was clean out of time. Ever get the feeling someone was putting your life on ffwd??

Warm up as above but shortened because of heat, lack of time and cycle on bike to park.

Keeping coachy's "power and explosiveness" in mind, I motored on these and got up to top speed with only very minor complaints from the hip. I even flirted with accusations of sprinterishness by ambling v v slowly back to the start of each one. Yes, ambling.....

V short warm down and cycle home with kids after.

May have done some 'work' that evening but I suspect not. Oh yes, had lots of kiddies and mammies around for play date and one of them, a qualified masseuse, stayed on and gave me a deep enough massage in light of forthcoming race. That counts as 'work', right?? Heel drops etc definitely done. All attempts to get to bed early this week failed miserably so far. I can be my own worst enemy.

Friday
V brief jog down to physio and back to have back retaped after massage and checked out tape over hip flexor area. I can feel the back tape tingling but not sure if this area is 'doing' anything. Saddle is a bit low on bike and is probably contributing to tightness there.
Tried to claw back some sleep credit.

Sat
The preceding days and this weekend are a bit of a blur.
Lack of sleep since that four drunken nights and 6yo birthday prep and life etc all caught up. Wrecked.com and after party, jettisoned all thoughts of going for a pre-race jog and strides. This didn't sit comfortably with me tbh but I was that tired, I knew it would have been counter-productive so had a glass of wine instead and got to bed reasonably earlier.

All heel drops and knee bends done this week, am and pm. Ok, 97% of the time. I think I missed one. Am also adding rear leg lunges and cobras to this immoveable routine. I should incorporate the pigeon and tree poses too because they really help my piriformis and back but...Baby steps.

Sun
Had coffee and went out for 10-12 min shuffle jog and 3 short and easy 70m strides. Didn't like the idea of not having run since thursday.

Got my stuff together and hitched a lift with Timmaay to Tullamore for the Leinster Masters T&F 1500m

Lots of interesting chat on the way down and kept the nerves quietly buzzing in the background. Felt the 'sleep buzz' come on at one stage but shook myself out of it as too early. Anyone else get this? The stage just before warm up etc and entering 'the zone', you get an urge to close your eyes and doze? When you come out of it, after just a few minutes, you're well on the way to 'the zone'?

Got there, oriented myself, tried to find BG, no luck until got a text. Before that, walked around the track to loosen the legs, kept an eye on how far behind schedule things were and then sat in the stands. Did a real doze here for 5 mins or so and came out of it buzzing and relaxed.

After chatting with Timmaay about the likelihood of the 15 starting early (very possible if they catch up quickly), I made the executive decision to warm up possibly too early rather than be rushed.

Waaaaaay too early as it turned out. I started a shuffle jog at 2:20 (scheduled start 3:15) for 10-12 mins and felt the effects of the heat. I kept Ronnie Delany's words in my head 'conserve every ounce of energy for the race). Following a walk back to the track, I grabbed my spikes and drink. In a moment of inspiration, I put an eloctrolyte tab in my water bottle and sipped this for the next 1.5 hours or so before the start.

Finished off my warm up at a verree leisurely pace: limbers, static stretches, longer strides, more stretching and drills, shorter, faster strides, Myrtl and sitting down, keeping the muscles relaxed.

The wait went on far longer than expected so every now and then I stood up to do a 30m stride or butt kick/high knee but mostly focused on staying relaxed etc. Luckily the day was so warm, I didn't need to worry much about the early warm up.

BG crossing the track heralded the imminent start and we all lined up knowing who was in what category. Karla Doran, the single - and v speedy - senior was downgraded to a single race of combined senior and masters.

THE PLAN

1 The plan was a medal
2 the instructions were to sit in, cover any breaks and kick on the last lap
3 the objective was a medal, not a time
4 the extra outcomes could have been a PB and/or a championship record. The CR is 5 mins flat and I knew I was in sub 5 shape but see no.s 1 and 3 :rolleyes:

With that in mind, I knew having Karla in the race was a game changer but only a small one. If Niamh Fitzgerald (o/40) from Lucan or Jackie Carty (o/45) had lined up, we would have had a fast and competitive race too.

Off we went and I found myself in third behind Karla and a magnificent o/50 athlete. Pace was pacey enough but manageable. Between 100 and 200m I made another executive decision. I glanced over my shoulder (I know!) and slowed until the chasing pack caught up. I reminded myself that the main goal was a medal, not heroics in the heat. My championship competitors were in the chasing group, not ahead of me. It was a hard decision to make but I am really glad I made it.
There was a very real danger I could have faded badly in the heat and in no man's land, an attritional experience compared to the absolutely, amazing positive experience I had.

There were no lap splits that I could hear and no watch - obvs - so I sat in and ran. And focused. And ran. It felt great. I let MC and EL? take on the pace and sat in behind them. That was difficult. I wanted to push on, I was impatient. At one stage I had an elbow tussle with EL but gave it up as unimportant.
A brief systems check told me I was working hard enough but feeling very comfortable. MC started to surge after 500m and I had a brief moment of elation when I realised I was in control and feeling strong.

The bell went and our little group had an electric surge and upped the tempo again. With 300 to go - a little early but I couldn't hold back any longer - I moved in to lane 2 and moved past, not kicking properly until just before 250. Oh ye goddesses this felt so good. I knew I had it, I can't ever remember feeling this strong at the end of a race. No pain, no straining, just staying relaxed until a thigh burn in the last 10m. I loved it

Objective achieved :cool:

I saw Karla's and the other athlete's times in the results and had a brief moment of regret that I hadn't gone with them. Oh yeah, my time was 5:17.xx Then BG slapped some sense into me (not really). No regrets, a far more valuable lesson was learned today.

On reflection, I feel that the last mile TT and Sunday's 1500 are two quite significant blocks in the build towards the nationals. The TT was a killer, from 200m out. KC's observation that the first 200 was a bit too fast was actually quite comforting. I had thought I just wasn't able for that sort of pace :eek: In many ways, it mimicked an actual race situation but had the added benefit of the emphasis being on time and a fast leg turnover throughout.

Sunday's race honed a different skill set: racing a race and being dictated by place, not pace. So now the aim over the next two months is to hone these two skills some more and marry them together for 'the main thing' in the nationals.

Great to meet Timmaay and Mulberry and to say hi to BG and chivito. Congrats on the medals and PBs, and to the other boardsies I missed.

Weekly breakdown:
No idea how many miles I did and really can't be assed to count.
Lots of cycling
Two short sessions
One race
One championship gold :cool:
A good bit of other stuff done too.

Kennyg71 wrote: »

Well done A, you'll have to get a vault put in for all the gold your collecting,
really reaping rewards from all the dedication.

Thanks G. Sorry to hear things were a bit miserable for you. Will pop in to your log tomorrow but right now, I am going to be my own best friend and have an early night