Confessions of a never has been.....

Cheers lads, couldn't quite catch the group I wanted but I was closing in on them....another mile or two and who knows. Another good solid workout though that will hopefully bring me on another percentage point.

El C - you may well be onto something there, I do feel like I'm getting slightly more reward for the same effort levels as last year over xc, catching people I couldn't catch before - notably over the longer 10k distance though which probably hammers home the point.
The longer stuff starts up again today though so I'll probably miss out on a couple of races that I'd fancy to make a bit of an impact in, maybe next year!

26.1.2018

Another busy and productive week, a good long run, a good session and a quality race.

Monday

Strava tells me 21.6 but it was more like 18.6.....watch went nuts for a bit and gave me all kinds of PBs, beeping for 3 miles over the course of a couple of minutes.

Happy with this one, went up to Howth to get some of those horrible hills in, fighting into a wind all the way though - very pleasant coming back all the same, nice to have the wind at my back

18.6 miles for the lot


Tuesday

Busy day at work but nipped out just before lunchtime for a very easy recovery run on the grass in Ringsend.
4.7 miles

PM - Runmute home, took it very easy again, just over 5 miles


Wednesday

Trackday again, no hanging around for the warmup, once we had that done it was straight into:

2x1200
2x600
4x300


As is the norm lately, controlling the longer reps and gradually winding the effort up as the distance drops.

Ran these very well and finished strong again.

1200s: 4.14, 4.15
600s: 158, 2.00
300s: 55, 57, 55, 52

Really good session today

Just shy of 7 miles for the lot


Thursday

Easy stuff around St Anne's, stuck to the grass for most of it, lovely weather for running and the park was nice and sheltered from the wind.

Just over 9 miles easy

Friday

Lunchtime run - 5.4 miles nice and easy


PM - runmute home, 5.6 miles nice and easy


Saturday

Woke up with a nasty head cold and considered not heading out at all but did venture out and did (kind of) enjoy it when I did

6.2 miles nice n easy


Sunday


National Senior XC Championships – 123rd position from 162 runners

This was another race that just was not on the radar a few weeks ago, a good tempo or mile reps is what the plan originally called for but having run well in the Dublin Snrs, DH saw fit to put a few of us in amongst it for the national champs, which was a big surprise to me but an opportunity that I was not going to let pass me by.

Of course, I woke up on Saturday morning with a poxy headcold, it was worse again the morning of the race. So much so that the thoughts of not racing did enter my head for a few minutes, I felt awful early on in the morning but after a couple of lemsips, I started to come around a bit and knew deep down that once I got going, I’d be too buried in hurt and adrenaline to worry about a headcold.

Out to Abbotstown nice and early ( what a setup!) with the youngest in tow, she was insistent that she was coming along today, I wasn’t quite sure what I would do with her while I raced but she’s old enough to hang around with the gang from the club now so I knew I’d figure something out.

Found the club tent, got changed, really started to feel the sense of occasion as soon as I took the tracksuit bottoms off. Headed off for an initial very easy warmup around the trails away from the course and bumped into Murph as soon as I got back, who very kindly agreed to hang out with Abbs ( the youngest) while I ran.

Didn’t get to see much of the women’s race but the course looked good from the starting area, lush grass as far as the eye could see, I was told that it was a 2k loop, that we’ve one nice k and then a horrible k….the “horrible” k was hidden from us but apparently had the hills and mud. Deep down I was hoping for soft enough terrain because it suits me and might mean that I wouldn’t finish last !

Another bit of a warmup, some strides up and down the starting area, a few drills and it was time to line up…..at the back. Sergiu, Maunsel(s), Kirwan, Tobin, Dooney, Claw, Hehir, Robinson, Travers…..they were all there, myself and 2 other lads from the club who are in and around the same standard ( in truth, they’re a little faster than me) hovered around the back, feeling a little out of place. No time to dwell on it though, I was still trying to figure out the course when I heard the gun sound and we were off.

I couldn’t believe how quickly everyone tore out of the starting area, streaming down the wide open stretch of grass ahead, a real downhill start, ducking into a more narrow, sandbased section through the trees. The support was great as we got going and I was intent on not getting caught up in the madness at the start, this was 10k again and while the standard of athlete was very strong in general, if there was mud on the course, it would slow things down over the 2nd half.

Through the trees, softer surface here, then the route opened out a bit again into a meadow, snaking its way around to the end of a field before turning and bringing us back into an immediate drag, back towards another wooded area. I felt great, I was probably last here but I felt great and was tracking I and R from the club nicely. As we got closer to the trees, I saw the route narrowed again and heard the sound of the softer mud before I saw it, this was obviously the horrible K, a sharp hill, very soft underfoot but still lots of support in amongst the trees here.

I nipped by one or two people on the way up the first climb, turned at the top and looked for a decent route through the next muddy section ( there was none). This is the kind of stuff that just evens out cross country races, it saps your legs and I knew that it was going to sting like hell by the 3rd or 4th time we passed through here.

Up to the top of the muddy hill and the route seemed to open out again, lots of shouts from clubmates and boardsies around here, it really adds to the atmosphere but this was already hurting, coming over the top of that hill, I was really trying to find my breath and hang onto the group ahead. I was conscious that I’d moved up a few places already but the legs were responding very well.
Up another hill, no real mud though thankfully, a sharp enough left around a bend and we were at the top of the course again. 1st lap done thankfully….the effort levels were high though, heading back down through the wide open field towards the trees again, I was gasping a little to catch my breath again but I was taking good confidence to how close I was staying to I and R from the club.

Through the sandy\narrow stretch then out the other side, this all felt fast, everyone around me seemed to be working hard so I wasn’t alone in that regard. We’d reached the end of the course and I chanced a look across the field as we effectively did a u-turn to head back up the drag, I’d taken a couple of more places than I’d realised, on we trudged towards the muck and the hills.
The effect on the pace was immediate, I held position going up the first hill but kicked a little going up the second one and took another place or two. R from the club had moved a good bit ahead but I was staying well within range which was promising.

Another huge sigh of sorts when I got to the top of that climb but I didn’t dwell on it and forced the legs to push on down again….before having to work back up a drag, turning left onto the top of the course.
Into the start of the 3rd lap, flying down the open meadow again and sucking the air from the sky to try and fuel the legs, it’s a strange sensation hurtling down through this section, you really want to take a breather, recover a little but you can’t because you’ll lose touch with the group you’re running with. I was a little closer to the two clubmates now as we emerged from the trees moving to the bottom of the course, through the chicane, into the long u-turn and back into the trees again.

I put in a big effort on the both hills this time, slipping a good bit but finding that people around me were just coming back to me with every step. It was hurting like f*ck by the time I moved onto the 2nd hill but emerging over the top, I pulled alongside Ian from the club and we both headed down the drop at a good pelt before heading into the drag\turn at the top of the course. I think I moved by on this one, coming over the top, I was just aware that he wasn’t beside be anymore and I could see R in a group ahead, starting the journey back down to the end of the course.

Coming into this section and starting the 4th lap was just intense, there was no let up in the pace\effort and I was conscious that I had already moved ahead of a few people that had beaten me on my last 2 outings over xc, same temptation to ease up before coming to the trees but I focused on the basics for a bit, form and turnover, take advantage, don’t let up. Through the trees and I drew level with R as we started the U turn, the drag slowed everyone down as soon as we came out of the turn and by the time we hit the muddy hill, I was ahead of R, getting a bit of a bounce from it and moving past another couple of heads.

I felt the legs wobble a bit coming over the top of the 2nd hill, some great shouts from the crowd here, a few people from the club were pretty tuned in and knew I was starting to come through the field. Down the drop and back up into the last turn\drag before starting the last lap. I knew I had to be relentless here, I knew I needed a big lap and I knew I was going to have to work hard to claim any more places.

I closed the gap on a Tullamore lad ahead by the time we hit the trees again, using the better surface here to open the stride up and put in a surge, once again it was tempting not to but the urge to push on was real now and I was embracing it. Into the u-turn, Jerry Kernan was there and gave me an odd look as I gasped and puffed my way up the drag and into the trees.

Into the muddy section for the last time, another big effort, moved by another couple, “well done lad” says one….I actually couldn’t muster any response other than “f*ck” ……….”I know” he replied !!

The 2nd hill felt ten times worse than the 1st but when I got over it I forced myself to push on down and moved alongside a GCH runner for the last drag\turn….
The business end of the race was well over at this stage but the beauty of xc is that we get caught up in our own races and battles, whatever the level – I surged on the hill and kept it going, moved wide on the bend because I knew it was into the home straight now as opposed to back down into another lap.
Opened the stride up, knew GCH was gone, the crowd were shouting, lots of green, pump the arms, kick the legs, embrace the pain and enjoy the moment, over the line and done.

Lots of people lying around, a couple puking…..I wasn’t sure what to do with myself to be honest, hung around for the 2 lads to finish, congratulated them……met Murphy and Abbs, headed over to the club tent….word was already in that the club had won…..lots of complimentary words from coaches and snr athletes alike…

I got a bit of a warmdown done then headed to the presentation, a pretty good gathering from the club to witness it too, 3 in a row, national senior cross country champions – I felt a little fraud like at first given that I hadn’t scored for the A team ( I was 2nd scorer on the B team), we had 3 of the top 5 and I think our 4th man was 30th or so….. but was told in no uncertain terms that I was part of a winning team and along with the other lads, ordered into photos etc….
Incredible occasion, a real sense of community and the team….something I’d sampled before but never in this sport and at this level, a real honour to be part of it. To be in amongst it, running over the muck with this standard of runner was both inspiring and humbling, the crowd, the hills, the pain, the lush green grass, the smell of the earth…..its easy to see why so many people point you directly towards cross country racing when you talk about marathon prepping, it really does reach in deep down and drag it out of you.

10k in 36.45

Mile 1 – 5.47
Mile 2 – 5.58
Mile 3 – 5.58
Mile 4 – 6.00
Mile 5 – 5.54
Mile 6 – 5.59
4.58 pace for the last .2



A very solid week with 72 miles all in

AuldManKing wrote: »

Super racing.

Rocking up to the National XC with 60+ miles in the legs. Beast mode DD.

There was method to that madness, A - I knew I wasn't going to be in the business end of things so tapering was going to be pointless, 10k is a long way to run over cross country but I wasn't going to turn down the opportunity and I was fairly confident I could contribute something while getting a really strong effort in the bag.

Friday

Crazy early start to work today, planned on running with one of the lads from the office at 7 am, forgot the gear


Got out instead later that evening with the youngest on her bike for company, ran 7 very easy miles with some strides thrown in with some focus on form etc

Saturday


A few easy miles around the PP with AMK, FBOT and Murph before they headed off to run jingle bells, I did some supporting, had some chats with heaps of boardsies then headed off with AMK for a few more easy miles

Lovely stuff
7.2 miles


Sunday


Dublin Intermediate XC (8k), 16th

Another weekend, another cross country race. This would be the last one of the current set and while I had only planned on running 2 XC races over the course of the last 4 weeks, the 2 snr races were just opportunities that I wasn’t going to turn down. ( they also still fit in with the overall plan)

Really wasn’t feeling the love for this one if I’m honest, the week had been crazy, the nationals last week with the long run the day after had left me feeling like I was pinned right up against that line of pushing hard and being stupid. It’s a tricky one to get right because the truth is, there really isn’t a distinct line as such, its more of a hazy spectrum….Wednesday’s session was tough going, legs like concrete and a tough day too ( wind), the easy stuff is always very easy but even after 10 hours sleep on Saturday night, I was tired – that’s a tell tale sign for me, I do have a down week planned next week to absorb the racing and miles and to let the body recover before another set of tough weeks to ramp up towards Seville.

Anyway, after feeling sorry for myself for long enough, I got into the car and got myself over to Tymon, met the lads, got changed and headed for a loop of the course. It was in pretty good nick but it was probably the most technical course I’d come across yet, lots of sharp turns, sharp drops and even sharper climbs, the odd chicane and a very sneaky sweeping bend on a gradual drag. The surface was soft but holding up well to be fair…there were also a couple of sections with wood chip\mulch that would definitely slow things down for everyone as the race wore on.
Overall, this was shaping up to be another old school xc course, 2 or 3 sections in particular were going to hurt like hell over the 2nd half of the race so I knew it would silly to go out too hard.

Ran a couple of miles warmup with the lads from the club and with Gosh who used to frequent these parts, we’d a decent team out but I knew from talking to other people that a couple of clubs were targeting this and had a red circle around the date on the calendar for months now, I’d seen the finishing list from last year and this field looked a lot bigger which confirmed that clubs were fielding bigger teams this year ( we had 6 runners). Said a quick hello to RayCun and a few others from around the place and got myself ready to rock.
Before long we were off, starting out on some high ground, good surface and off through some hedges, before dropping sharply and to the right down a natural chute onto a playing field ( GAA? Can’t remember now!)

I found it manic at the start, really crowded and slightly more frantic than usual, maybe people were rushing to get down that through that gap into the playing fields for a bit of space. Anyway, I held position despite the shouts from DH on the sideline to attack the race. Surface didn’t feel quite as sturdy on the playing fields as it had during the warmup, its amazing how quickly it can start to cut up once you put a few dozen lads to work on it!

Around the playing fields we went, I was sitting just behind Ian, in 4th position for the club and working hard. A sweeping bend at the end of the field and we were coming back towards the gap we had come down through, this was going to be the first of the really sharp climbs so I moved forward a couple of places to give myself some room to attack it. The climb is actually gradual enough to start with, into a chicane at first but then there’s a sharp right, and straight into a nasty climb but its over before you know it…running on high ground again, sweeping left before another sharp right and a longer but less steep hill….turning left, still running just behind Ian and its down a huge drop, the kind of drop that is hard to keep your footing on but down we go and I tried not to overcook it this time, focusing on transitioning into a smooth stride once we get to the bottom.

We get a good view of the leaders from here as we run around another open field, we’re mid-pack, plenty ahead and plenty behind but lots of work to do, this course is tough and we’re not even 1 lap in. Looping the field, we run across the mulch section which does indeed slow us down, before darting left and up another sharp climb and into a nice straight towards the finish area.
Mile 1: 5.56

The support is great on the course, it’s one of the things that I relish when running for the club but Jaysis it hurts to respond to it ! We sweep by the finish area, taking a wide left turn and up the discrete drag to the higher ground. 1 lap down and 3 to go…

Back through the gap again, the course has already started to cut up noticeably, some great shouts from the sidelines here as we head for the entrance to the playing field, Ian and myself are running side by side and starting to take a few places, he leads the charge down into the sharp drop into the playing fields then I moved ahead to take some of the workload as we skipped past some bodies on the way around the field. The ground had softened quite a bit at the back of the field and 1 or 2 lads are obviously struggling in it, I pushed on, feeling the pinch but knowing that we can’t really ease up at all here. Ian moved ahead again before the chicane and led the charge up the sharp climb for the second time. I scrambled up after him, great shouts of encouragement from the crowd here.

There really was no time to catch your breath at all before swinging around a couple of bends and taking another steep climb, the surface was muddy here now and I was glad of the spikes. Side by side with Ian by the time we hit the top, I took a big, beautiful gasp of air before we darted back down the crazily steep drop onto the open field again. Gradually, gaps were starting to appear in front of us, I’d take a place….push on, then Ian would do the same, this was seriously tough going but we were starting to make some progress. Over the mulch again, up the sharp climb to the finishing straight, it was nice to open up the stride here, once again we had great support from the crowd and were pushing each other on nicely.

Mile 2: 5.53

Around the back of the finishing area, up the sneaky drag and we were back on higher ground again, keeping the stride opened up and making ground on the group ahead. I noticed a couple of very strong runners in the group but also spotted that they were a little closer now, down the chute we went, over the mulch and onto the playing fields, I think I moved ahead of Ian around here and kept pushing on, spotted a gap between 2 very strong Brother’s Pearse lads and went through it, I had to keep the legs kicking as I did so because I knew at least one of them would come after me.

Mile 3: 5.53

Coming back through the chicane and fighting my way back up that horrible little climb, I could tell from the shouts of the crowd that I’d put a bit of a gap between myself and the 2 lads, I could also see our 2nd place runner up ahead and told myself that he had to be the target now.

Left, sharp right, up another steep climb, left, down the big drop and I was alongside our number 2 now, I urged him to stay with me as I went by, kicking my way around the bend, could I keep this going for another mile or so? I doubted it at the time but I was encouraged by moving into 2nd for our team and hoped that the lads would come after me. Running over the mulch felt like running through quicksand this time, the 4 foot climb at the end, felt like 24 foot but when I made the climb, the support was there and waiting, people were shouting at me telling me what I already knew, I was making very good ground and taking a lot of good scalps in the process.

Mile 4: 5.53

Coming up the drag to the higher ground, I was responding to shouts directed at other club runners “ move past him now”, “you’ll take him before the next turn”…..each shout brought a response and I refused to be passed each time, in doing so it obviously brought me closer to the runner ahead.

Things were very spread out heading around the playing field, I went wide around a bend to kick past a crusaders athlete, he was blowing hard but I was struck at how f*cked I sounded compared to him !
Back to the chicane and I almost had to use my hands to get me up over the climb, it stung the quads but there was no time to relax at the top, I knew our 1st scorer was ahead and I knew there was at least another 2\3 places we could take before the end.

I caught another Brother’s Pearse runner on the steep, mucky climb and stayed ahead of him as we shot down the sharp drop into the open field. I moved in just behind our first scorer as we rounded that field, drew alongside on the manky mulch and by the time we got to the top of the climb, back to the support, I could smell the finish line, I didn’t know where I was going to get it from but knew I’d have to be quick to get home first.

I didn’t wait around and just went with it, ears back, got myself into the racing line and chased after the lad ahead ( Sportsworld I think), he had a good gap on us but I was closing it. It was really taking everything I had to keep this up, heart racing, lungs and legs burning but I couldn’t catch him ultimately, he had too much of a gap on us and was finishing well himself.
I crossed the line and sucked in lots of glorious air 😊

.9 mile at 5.40 pace

8k in 28.4

We finished 5th overall, beaten well by the teams above to be fair, BP had a fantastic race, really pushing at the pointy end of things and working that 4th man spot really well too. There’ll be other days for us I’m sure.
On a personal note, I was delighted with the run, I worked hard from start to finish and never really let up on the effort levels, I was confident I would finish strong with the tough course but surprised myself a little by just how many places I made up over the last 1.5 miles or so.

That’s the end of cross country for a few weeks for me, I may run a couple of races in January but only if I can make them work with some more marathon specific sessions in the week, time to be a little selfish.

Warmdown etc brought the week to a close with 70 miles and a lot of quality

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Some day I'll figure out the secret.

Great going . Serious grit and determination man. Always impressive.

You've shown that in spades yourself plenty of times over the course of the year P

11.12.2018


Friday

Easy lunchtime run around St Anne's - stuck to the grass nice n chilled

Just shy of 8 miles all in

Saturday

Session day today

Had to share St Anne's with the race walkers (national champs) for this one, thankfully they were just walking up and down the avenue in one continuous loop.

Plan for today was:

3 x (12, 6, 3 minutes@ 6.30, 6.20, 6.10) - 2 minutes easy between the 3 sets

A large enough session, the idea being to stress the system from 6.30 pace down to around the 6.10 mark over the course of 21 minutes, recover for 2 minutes and go again.

The wind was a real pain for some of this and I had to resist to urge to up the effort levels too much ( wanting to stay relaxed), St Anne's is pretty flat but it does have a couple of drags which I like to take in on these longer sessions too.

First set went pretty well, 2nd set got a little tougher and the 3rd was pretty tough to be honest, the wind was strong and the slight drags felt anything but slight. Got it done though and felt pretty strong at the end.

Section 1: 12 mins( 6.32 pace), 6 mins ( 6.16 pace), 3 mins (6.10 pace)
Section 2: 12 mins ( 6.25 pace), 6 mins ( 6.18 pace), 3 mins ( 6.15 pace)
Section 3: 12 mins ( 6.30 pace), 6 mins ( 6.24 pace), 3 mins ( 5.56 pace)

Some of the paces are a bit off but effort wise, this was a very good session, the wind and route distorts things a little but feeling strong while working hard over 10 miles or so is always a good sign.

13.3 miles all in for the session

Sunday - travelling to India, off

Another quality week in the bag, just over 71 miles with a good longer session at the end of the week.

Monday - Threadmill stuff, a very boring 5.6 weeks to kick off a planned stepback week

Tuesday - More threadmill stuff, another boring 4.2 miles on the hotel, early start today, I toyed with the idea of running outside but its nuts and I'd probably end up lost anyway.

27.12.2018

Feels like an age since I've updated this, time to get back to it

Monday 17th

Long run night, on a stormy, horrible evening. FBOT kindly offered to keep me company for the first half of this one, the pace and effort was nice and easy all the way until he headed off, within a mile or afterwards though, I was feeling very, very tired.
Used the Donaghmede\Baldoyle loop for this and when I turned onto the coast for the final 5 miles or so, the wind was knocking the $hite out of me.
I could gladly have lay down somewhere for a nap at any stage from 15 miles onwards but stuck it out for the full 20, legs, mind and soul...all feeling it

Horrible evening but it doesn't fully explain the horrible effort ( probably some residual jet-lag to be honest, I've found the trip back from Asia tough to get over before)

20 miles for the lot

Tuesday

Ran the long way home for some very easy miles. 6.2 all in. Felt rough at the start and a little better by the end


Wednesday

Last day on the track for the group today, we had a relay race lined up for the crew. 200m for each leg, each runner to run 6 legs.

I got drawn in one of the slower teams which suited me fine, I was to cruise these and not get into a race or else do my own session.

Sounds simple.....but then someone handed me a baton

Stupidly I got into a flat out, up to my eyes in lactic type race ...trying to chase down gaps etc and I paid the price on the 3rd leg when my left hamstring gave a deep\dull tug and brought me to a stop.

I could manage a light jog ok to get back to the office but I knew there was something wrong here and feared the worst to begin with.
A trip to the physio ensued, as did lots of eye rolling and agreeing that hindsight is indeed a marvelous thing...the verdict, I'm an idiot.
Thankfully there was nothing major wrong, a minor strain that just needed to be given a few days and lots of stretching.

Thursday - off
Friday - off

Saturday - jogged around St Anne's parkrun, felt a little tight towards the end but delighted to be running !
3.5 miles all in

Sunday - off

Monday - 4.1 easy miles, lots of improvement, the world starting to look a little brighter

Tuesday

Down to the Phoenix Park with the bro for the annual Christmas run, a lovely 5.2 miles with zero discomfort

Wednesday

9 sloppy miles around the trails in St Anne's - all good

Thursday

10 sloppy miles around the trails in St Anne's - a sigh of relief at the end.

I've 2 big weeks coming up now and there will be no relay racing in there



Happy Christmas to the Boards community, wishing you and yours a peaceful New Year

07.01.2019

Wednesday

A very easy run around St Anne's, stuck to the grass as always and felt the better for it

9 miles for the lot

Thursday

With the hamstring seemingly holding up well, a session on the cards. A pyramid of sorts.....missing a block or two.

Starting off at 80 seconds and working my way up to 3 minutes, used the grass for the most part and kept it around 10k effort. The kind of session where the body starts off creaking and groaning as the bits of rust drop off but by the end most moving parts were working reasonably well.

5.45 pace through to just over 6 for all the reps

60-80 seconds recovery between reps

Delighted to get it done, these always look fine on paper but in reality they are a tough little workout

8 miles in total


Friday

AM 6 easy miles, no ill effects from the session yesterday

PM - Physio visit and 4 easy miles afterwards. Good news on the hamstring, all in working order and full strength restored ( I kind of knew this anyway though)

10 miles for the day

Saturday

Biggest session in quite a while for today - 16 miles at steady effort ( 6.50-7.00). While I wouldn't get too hung up on pace for this, I knew that these sessions can be tough on the mind for me, especially the final third when it starts to bite.

Used St Anne's and the coastal loop for this, the wind on the coast was a head wrecker for a bit but I found a good stride and held if for just about the entire run. The effort felt great for the first third, started to pull at the system a little over the middle third and for the last couple of miles it was a real case of keeping focus on the stride and rhythm to make sure I kept it all moving well.

16 miles@ 6.52, tired afterwards but happy with it.

Sunday

Just over 6 miles very easy late enough last night to flush out the legs, enjoyed this and felt better finishing up than starting off

Just over 83 miles for the week, lots and lots of S+C too

15.01.2019

Thursday

10.5 easy miles around St Anne's, met a lad from the club and used the trails, good chats made the miles fly by

Friday

AM - Just over 7 miles around 7 miles, kept it very easy and stuck to the grass

PM - 5 miles with the youngest out on her bike along the coast, parked her up and ran a few strides to loosen out the legs a bit.

12 miles for the day

Saturday

Out again with the young one, this time around St Anne's, parked at one of those activity machine things that springing up around the place to save her legs a bit.
Felt heavy legged by the end.

6.8 easy miles

Sunday

Leinster Intermediates XC

There’s no other way to say it, I was not looking forward to this one. Pitting myself against other intermediate runners in a club competition, over the bumpy fields in Gowran seemed like the smart gamble to take when I penciled this one in a month or so back. Cross country racing has been a key part of the build up to Seville, a completely different approach to previous marathons I’ve run and maybe on paper a silly gamble….there’s something about it though, it drags the strength out, both physical and mental.
Penciling this in back in December when I was still in relatively early stages of Seville training and full of energy\enthusiasm was a doddle, it made sense, grind out a good few long runs and long sessions over late December, early January….throw in a good old fashioned cross country meet and you’ll reap the rewards surely?
The bit of added strength, tired legs, cumulative fatigue and all that, a real test of the legs and the mind.

Fast forward a few weeks and the thoughts of duking it out on the fields of Gowran was the last thing I wanted to do the morning of the race, switching from the longer, endurance based sessions to the more intense, oxygen sapping environment of an xc race was just not appealing to me.
I knew it was probably what I needed though, tough love and all of that. I briefly thought about making my excuses and getting in one of the scheduled MP sessions but that never really took that consideration seriously, which was just as well because when I got down to Gowran, it turned out that we had 4 on the team, just enough to ensure we could compete.

I watched the masters men, women and then the women inters while doing my warmup ( impressive stuff in all 3 races from the club…no pressure!) and when the time came to get started, I was a little less apprehensive about things – I knew I’d get into the race and grind it out, I fully expected to be b*lloxed for the first mile but will always back myself to hang on in there and work my way through the field.

A quick chat with the 3 other lads beforehand, we agreed to try to pack together as much as possible, if 1 went, we’d all try to go….but nothing silly over the first mile. Without delay, we were off, the course was essentially 2 fields, the first field with the start\finish area and the second with a series of testing drags\turns with some real exposure to the wind too. There was no real mud anywhere on the loop but tire tracks and the usual bumps and hollows made for some anxious moments throughout, lots of talk of glass ankles etc…
4 laps in total to run.

I found myself moving and breathing pretty well over the first few hundred metres, I didn’t get caught up in any mad dash, knowing full well that the last lap or two was going to claim some victims, this course was pretty fair but had lots of turns and 2 real drags into the wind that would hurt people, down alongside the start\finish area, into a sharp chicane then another sharp turn\climb into the 2nd field. I was struggling a little to get the legs to turnover and found myself slipping back a little further than I would have liked to be honest.

Lots of good support around here from clubmates, it really makes a difference on the day. Up the first of the drags, along the tire tracks, trying to pick a route that gave a firm grip and the wind was considerable here, somebody commented that they hadn’t felt that on the warmup and I remember feeling the same.
All the way to the end of the 2nd field then, a couple of sharp lefts and we were moving along a lovely stretch with the wind, I opened the stride up here for the first time and took back a few places, closing in on our 3rd place lad a little. Back towards the 1st field, through a ditch and back to where we started, this was already starting to hurt and I was working hard just to stay in touch with the 3 lads from the club. Lots of shouts from the coaches here, we were 1 lap in and it wasn’t looking or feeling to good for me or for the team, while the shouts were encouraging, the tone was very much “stay in touch” or “don’t lose that man”…that kind of thing.

Around the bend we came to start the 2nd lap, another nice stretch down the backstraight of the 1st field, once again I opened the stride up but didn’t gain any places, I was content enough with this strategy for now though, into the chicanes and I had held my own and was starting to settle a little.

As we climbed the little drag towards the gap in the hedge, I caught a glimpse of the lads ahead and hoped more than knew I should make a little ground coming into this section. True enough, I darted ahead of a couple of runners turning into the second field, pushed on up the drags to the top, pumping the legs all the time. I was struggling to really find the turnover though and while I skipped ahead of a runner or two on this section, it was a case of skip in at a corner and hold the place. I knew every place would count here given that we only had 4 of us running.

Coming down the long straight in the 2nd field, back towards the gap in the hedge, I was gassing a little, opening the stride up definitely helped with the pace but my quads felt heavy from the preceding drags and turns, I couldn’t manage to shake off the couple of people I’d passed on that loop. Out the gap, through the Raheny support and I was aware that I was in 25th position or so, I didn’t panic though, top 20 would be great and I knew if I was hurting, others were too.

Around the bend to start the 3rd lap and Pat H from the club roared at me to throw myself down the straight, I obeyed of course but everyone else around me was doing the same and I made up no ground on the straight. Into the chicanes though and I did catch a couple of runners, into the drag before the 2nd field and I had closed on a couple more, the Raheny support obviously noticed and I took heart from it.

Jesus this was hurting now, legs aching and lungs working overtime to keep the show on the road, I pushed up each drag and fought my way into each corner, encouraged by the ground I was making up each time but punished by the effort I was exerting.

Down the long straight again towards the gap again, when I emerged from the gap, I could see the 3 lads were coming back a little. I kicked hard around the long bend into the straight as we started the last lap, huge roars from the support as I did so, I always finish strong, I always back myself….this was going to be the same…wasn’t it?

I never had the sense that I was motoring through the field like I had in a couple of previous races but I was definitely picking people off now. I drew level with one of the lads from the club and ducked in ahead of him at the chicanes, urging him to come with me. A few more places each and we’d put the club in a great position.

Dick H tells me I’m in 21st position as I head through the gap and up into the series of drags in the 2nd field. The wind felt ferocious here ( I’m sure it wasn’t really!) and the bumpy ground was stopping me from opening up the stride yet but there was a big group ahead that I was closing in on.
One turn, another sharp turn and I was right with them, swinging around the bend into the straight, I couldn’t decide how to get around them so I ran straight through them and kept going.

There were maybe 5\6 in the group and at least 2 came with me, a Tullamore lad who was moving very well, we both opened up on the long straight but he was moving very well and nipped in ahead of me just before the gap. This is it now D, you’ve got to put the squeeze on.

Out the gap and straight rather than right, huge shouts from the Raheny crew and I knew there was a pack chasing me down so used it to drive me into the home straight. Tullamore was kicking ahead and wondered if I had it in me to catch him, I kicked, he sensed it and maintained the gap. The shouts from the crowd told me that someone was just behind so I kept the legs pumping, lactic burning through them now but they responded well. Over the line for 17th position, 3rd scorer for the team and a satisfied but shattered runner.

The two lads from the club finished just ahead and were panned out on the ground, with our 4th scorer coming in a few places behind me.

There was lots of hugging and congratulating once everyone got their breath back, this one was hard fought, very very hard fought but 2nd Team was the prize for our endeavor and it felt very sweet indeed.

Standing in a field in Gowran, Kilkenny with clubmates and coaches, a little medal to show for the aching muscles, I was struck by the sense family about the club, people congratulating each other, former Olympians giving a knowing smile when handing out medals. They’ve been here, done it many times before, at a much higher standard…but its all relative in this game. Thoughts of mileage in the legs, training for a marathon, long runs still in there…it all seemed a little silly really when you see what some people have contributed and continue to contribute to the club scene.

I didn’t have one of my stronger races but I dug in and did a job, sometimes that is exactly what XC requires.

Mile splits:
5.54
6.01
5.55
5.58
.93 mile in 5.19 (5.40 pace)


Just over 9 miles for the day inc warmup\down
72.5 for the week

Monday

Long haul flight to the west coast of the US left me feeling tired and a little stiff, I had reasoned with myself earlier that if the body felt good, I'd go long, if it didn't, I'd let it recover. Recovery is what was required so 6 easy miles around the streets near the hotel did the trick ( with some light strides). I've made the mistake before of shoehorning things into a week that aren't even that necessary.

Here till Friday, it'll be easy stuff bar a hill session of some description tomorrow.

FBOT01 wrote: »

He obviously did, resulting in the 07:15 split in mile 12

Knew it, I knew it as soon as it flashed up on the watch

Murph_D wrote: »

Agree with the point about underestimating the steady run, especially the steady long run. Hanson schedules them, every second long run if I remember correctly at about 10% slower than MP - it's a harder run than it sounds with the cumulative fatigue, and certainly builds confidence as well as endurance. Then there's the P&D 'progressive' LRs that also leave you with a similar feeling. As far as I recall though those runs (or at least the 'steady' portion of them) top out a bit shorter than 18, so this is maybe slightly tougher than it strictly needs to be? Maybe not.

I think they top out at 16 alright D ( maybe I'm wrong there) but I think they're more frequent in those plans too, I've done 2 over the course of 15\16 weeks ( not including long runs with a steady finish, I've had a quite a few slow long runs with the emphises on running very easy so I think that allows for it