Send in the Clowns - BAC 10K Challenge

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Ran it again this morning as part of a longer hill run and didn't walk!

Fair dues to you! Don't know how you could do that climb again after doing it in a race yesterday. I did my long run today, and jaysus, it felt very bloody long. Even at a much slower pace than my normal long run, and on a route mostly flat as a pool table.

Woddle wrote: »

Great run Krusty especially after the race, I did it a few weeks back after a xc race but only managed 15/16, no way I could have done the 20 well done.

Thanks Woddle. My running buddy is aiming for 3:40 in Connemara, so thankfully his long run pace is a good bit slower than I would normally run a long run, which helped greatly (a good bit slower than my recovery runs). All the aches and pains dissolved after the first 8 miles. It's good to get 3 hours on my feet, as that's close to what I'll be doing in Connemara (pacing him). Think I even managed a suntan during the run!

Today: 8 Miles with 10 x 100m strides. Anyone have any suggestions how you can approximate 100 metres without having to look at the watch (and change it to metric?). I'm not great at gauging distances, so have been doing approximately 60-80 strides, but could be way off.

Anyway, today's beautiful spring day was off-set by tiredness from the weekend, so didn't really enjoy the run. More a case of getting it done, and ticking the boxes. But I did tick the box. Looking forward to tomorrow's recovery run, if the fine weather keeps up. Will definitely wear lighter clothes which may have contributed to the difficulty.

Summary: 8.5 miles with 10 strides, in 1 hour, @7:09/Mile, HR=155 (81%)

Thanks. I'll give your first suggestion a go, as I don't live anywhere near Ballyboden.

Yep, it's one of the two big goals this year: Edinburgh - 3:07:30, and Berlin - 3:xx:xx. Looking forward to the period after Connemara, when the real training begins. I'm only messin' at the moment.

Today: 5 miles on the grass in the park at aerobic/easy pace, @7:32/mile, in 40 mins. HR=Still screwed up (around 142=72%).

..and sometimes it gives it all back.. But rarely both in the same workout.

Headed out this afternoon on an 8 mile aerobic run, with the idea of possibly completing my weekend's medium long run, if I felt up to it (step-back week). Decided on an old favourite route with a steady climb for a couple of miles, then a nice down-hill, followed by a flat return to home. At the top of the hill-climb, I was wrecked, but had put in some pretty good times on the climb. Recovered very quickly and enjoyed the subsequent down-hill, so at mile 7 decided I would stretch the run to the 13 miles. It was great to see some miles on the flat/uphill at planned race pace, with my heart rate staying comfortably below 155.

So, finished the 13.1 miles in 1:34, which is a decent chunk off my PB for the distance (official - 1:44, but have done 1:38 during a marathon). So very pleased. Overall the 13 miles was at planned marathon pace (for Edinburgh), so a great confidence booster. I feel just fine afterwards, and now have a couple of easy days of recovery runs ahead of me, before one last high mileage week for Connemara.

Summary: 13.1 Ninja-shaped miles in 1:34, @7:11/mile, HR=152 (80%).

Thanks Donothoponpop. It was after reading your log, that the idea popped into my mind of getting the medium-long run out of the way and having a nice easy couple of days. Not much difference between running 8 and 13 miles anyway (in terms of getting ready etc).

Previous days 6 Mile recovery run, on the grass in the park.

Today: 16 mile medium long run, with one decent hill climb, some lovely views, and a nasty head-wind for the last couple of miles. Familiar roads pieced together into a different route made for a lovely run, with sunshine... real sunshine! Today's schedule was for..well, nothing really. But having rested up yesterday, and with the sun making an appearance, I couldn't resist.

Summary: 16 miles in 2:04, @7:36/mile, HR=146 (76%).

4 Weeks to Connemara
98 days to Edinburgh

Today:
Schedule called for 10 miles with 5 miles at 15k-1/2 marathon pace. Got around 200 metres from the house and realized that last night's swollen ankle (following a tackle) was most definitely not gone, and that the shin pain (from a different tackle) was not going to let me run fast at all. So decided to do Thursday's 11 mile aerobic run, albeit at a slower pace. Frustrating, but has helped me make a decision (finally) about continuing playing the footie, until after the marathons.

Anyway, 11 miles at around 8min/mile, HR=139.

IMRA Trooperstown Race

*Warning, it took me longer to write this report than it did to run the race*

From my previous post, I was unsure about how I would perform in this race, and given this doubt, unsure whether or not I sure turn up at all. But being the third Boards AC runner, and having had a couple of rest days in Madrid (though to be fair, there was very little rest involved) I felt I should give it a go anyway. It was nice to meet the Boardsies before the race, for a bit of banter, then it was time to line-up.

This time, a different strategy - I decided I would start somewhere around where I finished the previous race, so I lined-up with around 20-30 runners ahead of me (having finished 26th in my previous race). Slogger Jogger and Donothoponpop were lined up just ahead of me, looking poised and alert, like pitbulls waiting for the command to attack. The race director went through his speech and I only half listened, the other half of me was listening out for the subtle change in the runners that would mark the start of the race. As it turns out, I should have paid more attention, as unexpected hill after hill threatened to wrack my body with lactic acid. For anyone new to IMRA races, either pre-run the course, or listen to the race director!

Ready, steady, go - we were off. As the race kicked off, I was very surprised at the pace. Sure, we were on a gentle ascent, but these guys in the leading pack were really pushing it. I stayed at the back of the pack and it soon calmed down. I realized that the initial push was the jostle for positions before the narrow path and climb made passing very difficult. I was quite content to hold up the rear of the first pack, but was soon surprised that some runners started drifting off the pace (may have started too far up the field) and I managed to get by a few of them. A kilometer or two of gentle (relatively-speaking!) climb, and I picked off a couple of runners, when suddenly, there in front of me was an orange beacon, that was to guide me the entire journey home. I couldn't believe my eyes. Donothoponpop was but a mere 200 metres ahead of me. Took me a while to catch up with him, as there were two runners between us, and I didn't want to tire myself just trying to catch dnhop, so I stuck to my own pace that eventually saw me drawing level.

This is where my race report and Donothoponpop's divert into separate realities. In my race report you won't find any mention of words like 'battle' or 'race'. I decided to leverage from his experience and try to stick to him as long as I could. I was hoping that this might reduce the chances that I might take a wrong turn (sometimes in these races, because of the landscape, you can find yourself with no-one visible ahead of you), but also take advantage of his pacing up the hills. It's true that occasionally I found a extra spurt of speed or took a slightly better line that found me ahead of him, but what remained in my mind was that if I could stick to him, I would have a good finish.

After 4 Kms of climbing I was indeed shouting/praying/anticipating the first bit of downhill, to catch my breath, and eventually it came, only to be replaced with another climb. As I headed towards the cairn that marked the end of the start of the first downhill, I was surprised to see a couple of runners ahead of us take a decidedly more 'direct' route past the cairn. Choice of path was an interesting variable during this section, as you could choose between the tractor/4x4 ruts, clip along atop the root-tangling heather, or take your chances with the sticky mud.

As I had anticipated, Dnhop soon took his rightful place as we headed towards Trooperstown Hill, and I took a moment to enjoy some of the breath-taking (!) views. Soon, another hill-climb, and at this stage, I was caving. The body was telling me that I shouldn't be challenging these hills at this pace, and in a soul-destroying moment of weakness, I gave in to my body's demands, and slowed to a walking climb, after seeing a runner ahead of us do the same. As a small pack behind us drew close, I picked up the pace again, and was surprised to see how quickly I could catch up with orange beacon, while leaving the trailing pack behind, so while not a positive attitude, at least it wasn't costing me too much.

Downhill on the scree, and thankfully, not as bad as I had been led to expect. I managed to stick within 100 metres of 'orange', as we both picked off a runner, who had previously been ahead of us, stopped to pee, and probably used too much energy reclaiming his former position. Down, down, down towards the finish line, I was praying to see the red cones that marked the end of my run, but with every twist in the road, another section that needed to be over-come. I had one ambition, and that was to finish behind Donothoponpop, but my legs were filling with lactic acid, and were begging me to slow down. I looked back, and saw a glimpse of a white T-Shirt, and that was enough to give me the final push to keep going to the finish line.

Still waiting for the official results, but as far as I'm concerned, Donothoponpop +1 is result enough for me.

Summary: 6.4 Hilly miles in 49:11, @7:35/mile, HR=173 (91%).

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Great running and great report. Avg HR of 173 :eek: I was scared of similar results so choose not to wear the HR belt

Yeah, it's pretty high alright, but I'm somewhat relieved, as I missed my LT session this week, so I think that this run took care of it quite nicely. I think my 20 mile run tomorrow will depend on the Ireland result. Might just put it off until Monday!

Congrats on your great finish by the way. Your stats for the winter league must place you very high in the overall league table.