Bliain Faoi Thrí

It's not a good idea to eat a fry shortly before going out for a run. I know this, and yet... Today was the last long run before next weekend's half in Kildare.

Distance: 8 miles
Weather: A mixture of showers and muggy sunshine
Surface: Main road
Time: 57:50 (average pace 7:14)

Yesterday's run, done today... I've felt the chest clogged up for a while now, so have forced the pace in my runs recently so as to open the lungs up again and try and get some pace in the legs. Don't know if it's counterproductive or not, will know on Sunday. Today was a short interval run, six by 400m ( pace for intervals was 5:56, 5:35, 5:36, 5:40, 5:51, 5:45)

Distance: 5 miles
Weather: Overcast and warm, gentle breeze
Surface: Sideroads
Time: 37:03 (average pace 7:25)

I would never have considered driving to Kildare for the day for a half marathon, but one of the few decent legacies we have from the Celtic Tiger, motorways, means that heading from the far west to Kildare isn’t the expedition as it once was.

The alarm went at 6:15, the two boys were fed, suited and booted and brought to their grandparents, and my wife and I headed off to Kildare. My wife volunteered to drive, as my knee still tends to flare up a little bit on longer car journeys. We got to the Curragh at about 10:30, and had no problem picking up my race number, a sign of things to come from a well-organised event.

This was my first race as a Boards AC member, and even got to wear the Boards singlet, having met christeb before the start of the race and engaged in the second-hand singlet market. My suspicions that christeb’s size large singlet might be a bit big for me were confirmed by this photo!

My plans for the race itself were a bit ambitious, set off with the 1:30 pacer and see if I could hang on for dear life! I headed down to the start, meeting with DaithiBC, and in a first for me and most people other than Ronald McDonald, being recognised by my shoes . DustyBin can spot a gaudy shoe from a mile away! Despite the violently competitive portrayal of DustyBin by others (ahem!) on this log, he actually turned out to be a very nice man, who also happens to be a very good runner, especially considering he didn’t start running until last August!

As I waited at the start line for Catherina McKiernan (who looks younger now than she did at her athletic prime!) to start the race, it dawned on me that I hadn’t bothered with any warm-up. No dynamic stretching, no light jog followed by strides to open the lungs, nothing. There was no time to dwell on it, the foghorn sounded and we all ran off in the dust after DaithiBC. I’ve noticed recently that my concentration levels, whether running or on the bike, are appalling and that I tend to snap out of daydreams at a much slower pace than I should be at. I had never run with a pacer before, and I was looking forward to not having to bother concentrating on pace, letting DaithiBC do that for me. This didn’t work in real-life, though, as the end result was me losing concentration, falling behind the pacer, waking up and working hard to catch up again, only to fall back again.

Thinking back, using a pacer probably led to me abdicating all responsibility for my run, to the extent that not alone did I not warm up, I didn’t recheck my shoe laces before starting, something I always do. Sure enough, at seven miles, my shoe lace opened. At this stage, I was a bit behind the pace group and figured if I stopped to close the lace, I’d never catch up. I set off to get back into the bunch and got there coming into a village called Cut Bush, just in time to see DustyBin miss an actual bin and hit a young lad square in the chest with a half-full cup of water! The people of Cut Bush put on a great show, what with music and jelly babies, and once I got through the village and to Cut Bush city limits , I stopped to close the lace.

That was it for me and the pace group. I never got back, and any time I put in a spurt, it seemed to coincide with the pace picking up ahead of me. At eleven miles, I remembered the HTUF written on the road earlier and picked up the pace, only to be smacked back down by a long uphill drag at about 12.5 miles. I had always imagined the Curragh and Kildare to be flat, I was wrong! Ahead of me, I could see DaithiBC’s white balloons cross the line, then the clock turning from 1:29 to 1:30. Arghhh! Seventeen seconds later, I crossed the line. A PB by over eight minutes, but still a bit disappointing. Thinking about it yesterday, I was annoyed at missing the sub 1:30, but also annoyed at being annoyed, as I would never have thought a few months ago, when sub 1:40 was a genuine target, that anything near 1:30 was possible.

Anyway, it was the first time I finished a race where the queue for a massage wasn’t really long, so DustyBin and I got in line. I was finished in five minutes, but I think DustyBin went for the facial and full wax as he seemed to be in there for half an hour! At least I finished something quicker than him on the day!

A big thank you to DaithiBC and the other pacer whose name I didn’t get. It was a privilege to witness someone running at sub 1:30 pace and yet run so utterly comfortably within themselves. The pacers provided an excellent service, a pity my legs weren’t up to it. Kildare was my first run as a club member, and wearing the Boards vest is definitely a great way to meet people, I met loads of boardsies.

Overall, the race was extremely well-organised, with the many turns well-marshalled. There were plenty of supporters out for what was a rural route, and the little motivational signs (plus ultraman1’s spray-painted messages!) were welcome. As for the water being in cups, I didn’t think it was too much of an issue. The first water table was a bit chaotic, though, the others were well-organised.

As for the run itself, 13 miles is a long distance for me at sub-7 pace. I felt it tough going, even after 4.5 miles . I'm not convinced I could come under 1:30 without a pacer, but I'm determined to give it a lash again!

Distance: 13.18 miles
Weather: Pretty warm, with a breeze
Surface: Gravel, grass and road
Time: 1:30:17 (average pace 6:50)

Sub430 wrote: »

Well done ronan, 125 next time? :P

I think 1:29:59 would be more realistic!

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Well done Ronanmac. Despite the unsympathetic pacers not waiting for you while you tied your shoelace (joke!) you hit the numbers really well. Definitely a more aggressive target for the next race! Nice to see another Boards singlet in action! The elevation in your Garmin Connect link looks pretty downhill towards the end though.

Can you not see that steep incline at 12.28 miles?:o

A combination of heavy legs post-Kildare, and driving all over the country in the past few days with work, meant today was my first run since Sunday. Probably my last this week as well, as I'm doing the Kilcornan 8k Forest Run next Sunday and I take my tapering seriously .

All this racing and my beloved tapering strategy, coupled with a three day running week, is playing havoc with my 1000 mile challenge. My marathon training doesn't start until July 6, so I'm going to have these next few weeks to put some bike work and trail hills in the legs in anticipation of Gaelforce.

As for today, it was an enjoyable sideroad loop from work down around Trá Mhaoras and back up to HQ.

Distance: 5 miles
Weather: Overcast and warm.
Surface: Bóithríní beaga bídeacha
Time: 33:41 (average pace 6:41)

Another weekend, another race. I think I've raced more this year alone than every other year put together. The sheer number of running events in the west is great, a major change from a few years ago when a look at any running calender would show most races around Dublin or in Munster.

The Kilcornan 8k Forest Run was being organised by Predator Tri Club as a fundraiser for the Brothers of Charity. I had taken part in a duathlon they had organised earlier in the year, and the marshalling issues that cropped up there didn't arise yesterday. The marshalling was top-notch, a tribute, no doubt, to our very own Catweazle taking his place amongst the flourescent vests!

I travelled to Clarinbridge with my wife, the two boys and Breandán, and met up with two other lads from work who were taking part. Registration was straight-forward and a 15 euro race fee refreshingly gentle on the pocket.

The race started in the Kilcornan forest, on tarmac road and we set off on what seemed a ferocious pace! I clocked the first mile at 5:43, probably the fastest mile I have ever run! The leaders ran on in a bunch and I was at the back of a second long string of runners. The first two miles were on tarmac and were downhill into a breeze. By mile 2, I was seriously suffering. I knew full-well that I had gone out too quick and after passing a few people early on, my aim was to finish without being overtaken. The lungs were burning though, and once we turned back into into the forest, I could hear someone closing up behind me. I kept going, trying to put some distance between me and the steps behind me, but with a slight incline and running on rough tracks, it felt like tough going.

Shortly after the 4k mark, however, I felt a second wind and got myself together. I passed the 5k mark at 19 something, delighted, as I had never run a 5k race and wondered if I could do it under 20. We came out of the forest and I glanced back, seeing two guys not too far behind. We were back on regular roads again, until we passed through a forest trail. The surface here was very rough, between stones and dips in the ground, and without my prescription sunglasses, it wasn't the easiest ground to navigate. Once again, though, I could hear someone closing in again. I think the forest added to the closeness of the sound but I was definitely being closed down.

At this stage, I would have taken the last leg handy as I was suffering, but determined not to be passed, I tried to run as fast as I could, crossing the finishing line in 31:21, two seconds ahead of the two behind me! Twelfth place overall. I met Catweazle at the finish line, complaining of a sore arse following the previous day's cycle .

The other lads got on well, Bren returning from illness and delighted to finish 8k on the back of no training.

Overall, I was delighted, knocking two minutes of my previous 8k PB. That's it for racing now, I think. Time to start focussing on Gaelforce and DCM 10.


Distance: 4.99 miles
Weather: Cool and dry
Surface: Tarmac, dirt road, forest trail, grass
Time: 31:20 (average pace 6:16)

Thanks for the feedback, folks it's much appreciated. After years of slow running, it's great to be posting PB's. If nothing else, it keeps me interested in training!

A pretty poor week training-wise with just two runs and no cycling. I'm taking next week off to do some work around the house so I should have the opportunity to start putting in some proper training.

A rare weekend at work, and yesterday's planned run was postponed until today due to general work craziness. Thirteen miles at 7:45 miles was the prescription, and as an experiment, I changed my primary data field on the Garmin from actual pace to average pace. Although it did help in me not constantly glancing at my watch, I found that I relaxed a bit too much and had to speed up in the end to get back near pace. I think I'll return to what I'm used to.

Today felt tough, it being so warm, but anytime I thought I was suffering, all I could think of was Hunnymonster's endeavors. That brought me back to reality :eek::eek:. I went a bit astray trying to find a new loop and ended up running a mixture of trails and shore, the light runners definitely unsuitable for running on shingle.

All in all, a tougher run than I had expected. I've been thinking about my plans to start my marathon training plan now, and might instead follow Krusty's advice from another thread, and fill the gap between now and July with 10k training to try and put some pace in the legs, but with LSR's of 13-15 miles.

Distance: 13.2 miles
Weather: hot, HOT, HOT
Surface: Road, trails, shoreline
Time: 1:42:36 (average pace 7:46)

Absolutely not :eek:! Double his swim time and I'd still come out of the water behind him. Was toying with doing the tri in Galway on Saturday by getting through the swim with the breast-stroke but the young lad's christening put paid to that. Half-thinking of doing the Croi tri just to see what it would be like.

A tempo run that felt tough from the word "go" today (I have to stop saying "go" everytime I go out for a run ). As previously posted, I'm doing a kind of hybrid programme at the moment, 10k training during the week, and an LSR of 13-15 miles at the weekend.
My 10k training paces are based on my best 5k time, and seeing as I've never run a 5k, I optimistically picked a time of 19 minutes flat :eek::o. I suspect the time is over-ambitious as I'm really struggling to meet my prescribed paces these days. As it happens, there's a 5k in Salthill next Tuesday so I hope to give that a lash to see what my actual 5k time is.

For example, today's run was 1 mile warmup, 2 miles at 6:24 pace, 1 mile easy, 2 miles at 6:24 pace and 1 mile cooldown. The tempo miles were never near 6:24 though, they were 6:32, 6:38, 6:58 and 6:35. On the one side, setting tough targets is bound to help my running, on the down side, I'm wrecked half way through them and can't make the pace! Plus, for some reason, I felt my legs really heavy and strained after today. Oh well... I'm doing Catherina McKiernan's chi-running workshop on Sunday, so perhaps Cavan's finest can set me right!

Distance: 7 miles
Weather: Warm and overcast, stiff breeze on the way home
Surface: Pavement and road
Time: 50:53 (average pace 7:16)

Sunday saw Catherina McKiernan come down to Conamara for a chi-running workshop, which I couldn’t recommend highly enough. It was a long day but I finished the day, for the first time ever, being able to run on my midfoot as opposed to heel-striking. There’s a lot to take in regarding getting the technique right, but it’s a case of doing the drills we were shown on the day.

Tuesday evening was the first opportunity to put the chi-running into action, with the Salthill 5k. There were four of us there from the “tri club/loose alliance of multi-eventers”, and Padraic from Velotec turned up with a new set of tri-suits which he insisted we wore. Yikes! Strange looks from the rest of the field, skin-tight one piece lycra looks more in place at a triathlon event than a Tuesday evening 5k!

Registration was on the Prom and one of the organisers took it upon herself to describe the route to me beforehand. Run along the prom, she said, and then turn up Threadneedle Road. "What?" says I, "organise a 5k along the flattest section of county Galway but send us up the only hill in the area?" "We wanted to make it a bit of a challenge," she said back to me. I was about to answer with a series of profanities when I remembered that the 5k was organised as a fund-raising event for a Christian summer camp, so I decided to keep my swear words to myself!

It wasn’t a big race (a bit over 150 entrants) and I found myself up front at the start line. The run started and I began focussing on my new technique. I normally keep a close eye on the Garmin to see what pace I’m doing but I was so busy concentrating on Catherina McKiernan’s lessons that I was a few minutes into the run when I noticed that I was going way too quick for my lungs. When I noticed that I was in second place, I realised that I had really misjudged things. There’s nothing worse than being somewhere where you are not supposed to be and I began wondering (a) would I be able to keep going without stopping as my lungs were on fire, (b) would everyone pass by me in a flash when I started to fall back, (c) was sprinting out at the start going to end up being really embarrasing?

At about half a mile, just before turning up Threadneedle Road, I was passed by a group of three runners who evidently had a better pacing strategy than the “hell for leather at the start and hang on for dear life” strategy. Going up the hill, all chi running technique was forgotten, and the sub-6 pace was dropping to sub-7, sub-8 and finally, at the very top of Threadneedle Road (passed by another two runners meanwhile), a pace of 9:49. To be honest, at this stage, I was just glad to have gotten to the top of the hill and not to have stopped. The gradual slope from Threadneedle Road towards Knocknacarra helped me in getting my brain and form together again, and I got the pace back up again. Anytime I focussed properly on the running technique, my pace increased, but my lungs were often struggling with this pace, though. We were told that the finish was at the Salthill Hotel, and I was passed coming up to the turn for the hotel. It turned out that the finish was at the turn, but this was unclear and most people kept running before noticing the race was actually over.

In the end, I finished ninth with a time of 18:39. It was always going to be a PB as I had never run a 5k before, but I was delighted with the time and really enjoyed it as an event. As for the chi running, I think that it definitely has positive implications for my running but that I need to practise the various drills more (my calves were killing me after the race, and I never feel anything in my calves normally).

A nice Tuesday evening diversion, and a well-organised race.

Distance: 5k
Weather: Breezy and overcast
Surface: Concrete pavement and tar road
Time: 18:39 (6:01 average pace)

catweazle wrote: »

18.39 going up Threadneedle road..........thats incredible.

Was it the whole road, starting from the prom up to the traffic lights at the top??

Christ thats great running

The route started across from the aquarium, along the prom until the Blackrock roundabout, up Threadneedle Road to the top of the hill and left at the lights, along the main road towards Joyce's, turning left at Kingston just before Joyce's, coming out onto the Salthill Road at the Spinnaker, left again and finishing at Salthill Hotel. As I said, there are flatter routes around there, Threadneedle Road seemed a bit of unnecessary cruelty!

FRIDAY:

Missed Thursday's run as was working away from home, and didn't get the time to go out, so moved Saturday's LSR to Friday. Another 13 miler, another slow tough run, with a big slowdown over the last two miles. I hope, when I start the actual marathon training, and dump the midweek 10k training, that the legs feel fresher for the LSRs. At the moment, my endurance definitely doesn't inspire confidence . I'm doing the same route for a while now the long runs, over to the pier and Ros a'Mhíl and back to the house, so maybe a new route might be a bit more inspiring.

Distance: 13.3 miles
Weather: Dry and warm
Surface: Road
Time: 1:42:33 (average pace 7:43)

SUNDAY:
Headed off to Delphi Mountain Lodge in the morning as a group of five of us went to do the cycling/Croagh Patrick legs of Gaelforce. The new off-road cycling section is a bit nasty and adds a fair amount of work and time to last year's course. It didn't help that I clipped the back tyre of one of the lads while trying to hide behind him from the wind, and came a cropper. Knee says ouch.
The reek was its usual toughness, didn't take a watch with me so don't have a time. Walked most of it up (I have a lot of hill work to do), and pelted down. Overall, it was enjoyable but the leg hurts today!

catweazle wrote: »

We were there on the friday and saturday for a stag, 20 lads waiting around to go surfing for the day and then they come down and tell us the muppet groom had booked us in for next weekend by mistake and they had no availability. Longest day of my life drinking at 1, We were staying In the Leenane of two pubs, what an inappropriate place the only people in both pubs were us for the night. Thank god I was only doing the friday.

Are you doing Annaghdown or Milltown 10k next week, I might do the Annaghdown one myself

I'd say that any sheep farmer heading down to Gaynor's for a quiet Friday night pint got a bit of land alright!

I was really looking forward to Annaghdown as I've only ever done one 10k before this, but for the second week in row, I'm working in Dublin on Monday and Tuesday. F*ckin' typical!