Trudging through taper

Monday, 1st April – 26.7km LSR
I took a rest day on Sunday, partly as a recovery from the 10km but mostly because of a busy Sunday afternoon (and partly because of pub Sat night!). So on Monday I drove to Newport to go for a run on the Greenway. I’d cycled this section twice before (Newport to Mulranny and back again) and knew it was good terrain but also that it can get a bit exposed to the wind. Usually we’d have to deal with a Westerly wind but the persistent cold Easterlys were still in force today.

The outward section was easy going and the wind was helping to push me along the slightly uphill gradient. I noticed a little tenderness in my groins which I figured was fallout from the 10km on Saturday. The remainder of the outward run was grand and I decided to turnaround at 13.3km in order to avoid dropping down in elevation into Mulranny as I’d only have to climb back up it again straightaway! Besides, my mind was already full of dread about running back the way into the wind.

Instantaneously after turning around for home my cap (which I’d almost forgotten I was wearing) was nearly whipped off my head due to the strength of the wind. As I ran the first 400m I battled in vain to ensure it would stay stuck to my head but I quickly realised it was a useless endeavour and threw it in my jacket pocket. Things hadn’t started well.

The next 5km were the toughest of the day with me ending up nearly horizontal in a bid to lean into the wind. Eventually a little shelter arrived and I got a chance to look at the watch and see how slowly I was now moving but to my susrprise I seemed to be maintaining the same pace as my outward journey. I half-figured there must be some miscalculation so thought little more of it until I got back to the car. The final few kms weren’t a whole lot easier but sure enough when I did the analysis the outward journey (1:09:53) was just 10 seconds quicker than the homeward journey (1:10:03)! Very happy with this as it was such a surprise and reward for keeping the head down and plugging away the whole time. I’d still have preferred no wind but at least now I know it’s not the end of the World if it gets blustery!

Tuesday, 2nd April – 8.5km Easy Run with 5km @ MP (4:38/km)
A tight schedule this evening meant that I had only time for a shortish run but I decided to throw some MP kms into the mix. Took the first km easy but was slightly alarmed to notice both my groins were still a little tender from yesterday’s run. They eased out after a few minutes though so I stuck to my plan to introduce MP at the start of km2. I managed to hit target pace pretty easily, helped by the fact much of it was downhill. Km4 was back uphill though yet I still managed to hit 4:45/km before a final fast km of 4:37. Overall it felt a bit tougher than it should have and the usual thoughts of how will I manage this for 42.2km started to cloud my head. I still had 2km to cover before returning home however and after a recovery 5:00/km lap I finished off with another fastish lap to finish with a 4:41/km which managed to allay a smidgeon of doubt but plenty still remain!

Wednesday, 3rd April – Rest Day

Thursday, 4th April – 8.9km MP Run (Overall: 4:47/km)
Took Wednesday off as a rest day and this evening I had to be in the City Centre by 7:30pm so had only a limited amount of time to run. Therefore I decided after 1km warm-up to push a few kms @ MP. This went well and even though I eased off a little coming up the hill at the Regency Hotel (5:03/km) I got back into the faster stuff afterwards and finished with 2km @ 4:28/km each. Slowly getting more used to the MP stuff…

Friday, 5th April – 11.8km Recovery Run (5:24/km)
Decided the prudent option would be a recovery run so that is what I did! Nothing much else to report.

Saturday, 6th April – 7.5km including Marlay Parkrun and 1km w/u and 1.5km c/d
Called over to the Marlay Parkrun this week for a change to see what the course was like. After a 1km warm-up run from the car to the start line I bumped into jcsmum and chatted for a few minutes before the race started. Off I went to the second row at the start, with most of the field of 350 runners behind me. Before long we were off and the first 100m was across the concert field to the pathway. I settled into about 25th position along here, tipping along at 4:00/km pace. There was a marshall at the 1km marker and he confirmed I was spot on that pace still. 

I was pushing it nicely and I reckoned on a flat course I should be ok for most of the race but I soon had to reconsider this strategy when I got to the start of the incline just before the 2km marker. Although by no means steep it was definitely persistent. It pretty much lasted 1200m or so with a short easing off halfway. My pace nosedived around here which surprised me. I looked at the watch and the pace for the second km had dropped to 4:15. I reckoned the worst was over and that I had a chance of regaining those precious seconds but the incline continued for most of the third km too so shockingly this registered as 4:29! I checked the watch at the 3km marker and according to my watch it only registered 2.8km so I figured the trees must be messing with the GPS pace and soon forgot about this anomaly. 

The fourth km was downhill for the most part and this reflected in a split of 4:00. Unsure of the course remaining I was deflated to see we had to do the reverse of the concert field lap on the way to the finish and probably let it get to me a little as the pace eased to 4:06 and about 5 people passed me in the final 500m. I had simply nothing left to give for a kick which wasn’t surprising really given all the marathon training. 

Once I crossed the line I looked at the overall time for the first time and was disappointed to see 20:40 on the watch with a distance of 4.97km (finished in 26th place). I realised then that the 3km marker must simply have been in the wrong place and that my split times were actually correct. Finished off the race by doing 1.5km cool down.

This battle to get under 20mins is becoming a bit of a joke at this stage and I think I’m really gonna have to give it a right bit of focus after Rotterdam with some serious VO2 sessions! Of course I’ll be doing a marathon nearly every weekend in May so getting the chance to actually race a 5km may be the most difficult part!! I hear there’s a good 5km in Enfield (Bob Heffernan 5km) on a Tuesday in late May so that might become my May target. Getting faster at the short stuff will have to help me with the pace for the longer stuff! 

Week 14 Summary (so far):
RTW: 5 from 6 days
DTW: 63.4 km
DTY: 1,172.0 km