Balla 10k

Monday, July 20th: 17.0km Easy (5:38/km)

After the race yesterday I had always planned to do another medium distance run today to compensate for lack of a true LSR this weekend. The idea of running on tired legs certainly worked! I ran down to Kilbarrack as an out and back route in order to prevent myself from cutting it short on a series of laps. Stopped briefly about 3km in to stretch out the quads – they were the only things really giving any issues, and even at that it is because of the effort on Sunday and should clear up in a day or two. Kept the pace in around 5:30/km after a couple of very slow 6:00+ warm up kms.

By the time I returned home I was happy to be done but if needed could have tacked on a few extra easily enough so that’s a good result!

Tuesday, July 21st: 10.5km Tempo Session (6.5km @ 4:22/km)

After probably doing a bit too much over the past few days this evening’s Tempo was just a bridge too far for Roisin so she postponed her run. That left myself and John to trot the 2km to the beginning of our tempo laps.

After realising that 4:23/km is now my 10 mile pace I decided my Tempo pace should now be around 4:20/km instead. That, allied with tired legs meant my target distance was going to be the same 6km as last time out. All went well for the first 800m lap but from there on my quads were very tight. I was afraid I might tweak one of them early on and managed to wait until 4km before pausing for approx 60 secs of stretching the problem area. Jumped back in and reset the watch for another three laps to bring the total tempo distance up to 6.5km – an extra 500m on last time.

When I got home to upload the data to Garmin Connect the bloody watch lost the data, so just as well I had a good picture of the paces/distances in my head! I think the effort was probably a bit much for pure Tempo/LT effort but happy to have done it anyway. I didn’t want to leave it any later in the week as I’ll be racing on Saturday. Easy paced running now until then. Did a few minutes on the foam roller on the quads… seemed to do something positive for them.

Wednesday, July 22nd: 6.3km Recovery (5:52/km)

Met with John again and just did a few laps of the park and home. Neither of us were feeling too energetic after last night’s LT session.

Thursday, July 23rd: 11.9km Easy (5:40/km)

Legs were a bit freer tonight so upped the distance but kept the pace nice and easy.

Friday, July 24th: Rest Day

Was going to head out for an easy short run but as the evening passed I wondered why bother, considering the past couple of runs were so easy paced anyway and with the race tomorrow surely a total day of rest would be more beneficial in every sense. And so it was!

Saturday, July 25th: 12.0km Balla 10k (42:32)

I got the train down to Castlebar this afternoon leaving me plenty of time before the race start at 7:00pm. I always enjoy going home for this race and the field is usually pretty strong and large. However, this year the field seemed to be much smaller than others (130 or so runners) and even the sharp end of the race wasn’t as well populated.

Myself and Damien did a 2km warm up over the start of the route and by the time we returned to race start we only had a few mins to wait. This race used to start a few metres up the road allowing for a safe straight run up the school avenue but recently it has been pushed back around a corner in the road for some reason. This means the first 20m involves lots of people cutting across to take the corner tight and jump up on the footpath in the process. Can’t help but think that’s a disaster waiting to happen!

After the obligatory photo opportunity for local politicians we were soon away. My goal was to give sub 42mins a bash which would mean sticking to under 4:12/km. Most of the course is either up or down with very few flat sections. The opening km included the drag up to the secondary school and then out past the local golf course. I was tracking a neighbour of mine who often finishes ahead of me. I figured if I track off her I should be home under target. However, just after the first km I drifted past her on a downhill and just about managed a brief cheer to her. I expected she’d stay with me but afterwards my Brother confirmed she’d pulled out after less than a mile with an injury of some sort.

We were now back in the village and most runners were in their groove. Changing of places was few and far between from here on home (I passed about 5 people and thankfully was not passed by anyone). The drop down to the train station before the climb back up the far side is always a toughie but once past that it’s not too bad. First water station arrived at 3km(!) but as with the remaining two ono the course I declined. There is a section around here where you get a bit of a chance to push on and make some time but it was too short-lived for my needs!

Just after halfway we tuned left into a network of boreens before hitting Hooper’s Hills at km6. This is the beginning of what I suspect is the race winning section for the faster guys, but is simply a pain in the ass for the rest of us! I managed to get past a couple of people along here though and then it’s a matter of keeping on for the next two km before returning to the main road with 800m to go.

A slight drag before the main street remains just enough to take away the fast finish you hoped for all race and just leg it for the line. 42:33 ended up on the watch, so well outside target but given the course profile I reckon that was close to sub 42min effort. I’ll definitely look to nail a faster course later in the year to see what I can do and to break the old PB. So, until next year…!

Balla 10km – 42:33.

Sunday, July 26th: 32.0km LSR (5:45/km)

Returned on the afternoon train to Dublin so straight to the park for my LSR of 32km. Felt pretty good when I pushed through the first couple of kms but after about 15km I could feel myself getting progressively more tired. Kept pace at 5:3x for the most part with a speedier couple of kms to close it out. Very happy with the run considering the race yesterday.

Although, had I known that brought me up to 89.7km for the week I’m sure I’d have pushed on the extra 300m!

Week Summary:

RTW: 6 from 7 days

DTW: 89.7km

DTY: 1,729.6km

Mullingar 10 miler

I ran this last year when trying to recover from hamstring issues but in reality should never have attempted it as I slowed down from 4:30/km to less than 5:00/km to come home in a time of 1:18+. Even so, I learned enough from the event to know it was a great race on good road surfaces with no gradient too steep or too long to overcome. This would also help to frame where my fitness is currently and give an indication of what I might realistically be looking at in Berlin.

I was up by 8:30 for my breakfast of a bowl of granola and a cup of coffee and before long we were heading West. We arrived to Dalystown at 10:20am and trotted across to the National School for number pick-up. The coffee had done its duty by this time so I managed to avail of the toilet facilities while there. Time for a bit of a warm-up with 5 strides before a few stretches. I could feel a slight twinge on my right glute so a few ‘Figure of 8’s and I was ready.

Probably the only thing that I could say might improve this race would be the option of a starting mat/gantry. Without this, it is in everyone's interest to cross the start line ASAP and as such encourages slower runners to the front of the pack. This can cause trip issues and while nothing happened this year it can’t be guaranteed for other years. Thankfully the road opens up quite wide within the first 100m and so the congestion gets relieved in next to no time. This first 500m was slightly downhill and I was passing a few runners who had clearly started too far up the field.

We turned left at the finishing junction located at Wallace’s pub and we were now slightly uphill. I tucked in beside a few other runners to avoid the breeze and in no time there was a group of 6/7 working together at the same pace. This lasted a few kms more until we turned off the main road and on to a quieter back country road. I found myself leaving most of the group behind at this point as our pace of 4:18-4:20 was now slipping back quite a bit. I forged on, out on my own for the next few kms passing the odd runner here and there and maintaining a pace of 4:23/km. I was very happy with this as my pre-race strategy was to average around 4:23/km if I could and here I was feeling slightly tested but generally comfortable. I was of the belief at this stage that I should be bang on for 70mins at this pace so all was going according to plan.

We passed through Ballinagore in the blinking of an eye. This conveniently marked the halfway point and once again I looked to be almost on target with a 35:10 time registering on my watch as I passed the 5m sign. We were now on the homeward trail as we left the most Westerly point of the course. Back on the main road and a Mullingar Harrier passed me very slowly. Very slight inclines in the roads were commonplace at this point, not made any easier by the fact I was on my own for most of the way. From what I could tell I was still on target as the 4:23/km remained the status quo. A couple of kms later and we were turning right again, off the main road and onto the final loop. We were now less than 4km from home and things had moved on quite considerably now from 'comfortable' to 'strong effort'! Passed a couple of guys around here who were fading but there was till about 6 runners up ahead where the gap remained steady.

A final 90degree left hand turn and we were now 2km from home. At this point I was beginning to think things were going to be very tight and that rather than remain at the 4:23/km effort I’d have to consider redlining soon to get home in sub 70! Only problem though was that I was already in the red zone! The final run-in was 1.5km of uphill, followed by the initial 500m of slight downhill. Gave it everything I could and once I crested the hill I legged it for the line. Overtook a guy with 600m to go but with 150m remaining he powered on past me again. I had no answer but that was ok because I’d given my all to the course already. The final 100m to the line is a heart breaker because you are required to do a mini-loop for which the body really doesn't care! Crossed the line in 1:10:45 by my watch but seven seconds slower by the race clock.

So, no sub 70 but nevertheless I was still very happy with my race. I eventually worked out that my so-called maths had contained lots of assumptions and few actual calculations! In fact, I needed to run sub 4:20 average pace in order to really go sub 70mins and I simply didn’t have that in me today.

When I review against VDot it shows a slight decline against the shorter races which is fair enough as I probably have a little more work to do on my endurance and I would hope that improvement kicks in over the next 6 weeks til the Tullamore HM which will be my final marker for Berlin. At this moment though the likely target for Berlin will be sub 3:15 (4:37/km).

Mullingar 10 miler: 1:10:45 - New PB.
VDot = 48.3, Marathon prediction = 3:17:29.

10 weeks to go...

Monday, July 6th: 11.0km Tempo 6km @ 4:25/km

Due to the upcoming Mullingar 10 miler on Sunday we needed to get our tempo session in a bit earlier this week. Perhaps not a great idea given my run on Friday was followed by a parkrun on Saturday meaning that this was going to make it three hard days out of four. Needs must, though!

We returned to the square route (mathematical pun there somewhere!) from last week and my plan was to do a continuous route for at least 5km @ 5:25/km. Thankfully the breeze was not as strong as last week so things were a bit easier on that front. The first 4km went very well and this particular route seems to make the kms fly by. At the start of the fifth kilometre I lapped Roisin (who was on an interim recovery lap) and was now in the home straight, so to speak. Halfway through this lap though I decided to tag on an extra kilometre as I was still feeling good. So, after 6km and 26:30 I was able to ease off. Bang on the 4:25/km average pace to boot, so a very successful session.

Tuesday, July 7th: 15.0km MLR (5:34/km)

Called into the PP for this run on my way home from work. In my plan I had it down as a weekly 18km run but felt I'd be better off cutting it to 15km in advance of Mullingar. The run itself was a real trudge from the first step and it never got to be comfortable. A real exercise in winning the mental battle and getting to the finish. Felt my lower back/glutes on the right hand side a little but nothing serious.

Wednesday, July 8th: Rest Day

All the effort since Friday is beginning to catch up and I was feeling quite tired this evening so I called in a Rest Day. No harm and probably the sensible option. All easy running now until Sunday!

Thursday, July 9th: 8.4km Easy (5:23/km)

Just a very easy run around the neighbourhood. Still a little tired.

Friday, July 10th: 12.5km Easy (5:25/km)

The old 'figure of 8' loop. Things were a bit freer this evening.

Saturday, July 11th: 9.6km Poppintree Parkrun (21:52)

Ran to and from Poppintree for this. Took it very handy for the first few km before hitting 10 mile pace around the middle and then legging it for the final km. Happy with how i ran it as I wanted to get just a little faster stuff in advance of tomorrow. Still felt somewhat tired that evening though. Perhaps I shouldn't have done any faster stuff today?

Sunday, July 12th: 17.8km Mullingar 10 miler (1:10:45 *PB*)

Happy with a PB today. Race report to follow.

Week Summary:

RTW: 6 from 7 days

DTW: 74.3km

DTY: 1,639.9km

30km LSR with final 12km @MP...boo-yaah!

Monday, July 6th: 12.4km Steady (4:59/km)

Felt good on this for the most part and as a result I fell into a steady pace run. I was thinking I should really back off as I am hoping to run with the Club tomorrow (after a long break!) so want to have some energy for that. Pig-headedly I continued on with a pace similar to Saturday’s HM pacing gig. A couple of slight niggles/tightness afterwards but nothing to really compain about.

Tuesday, July 7th: 10.0km Tempo Session (4.3km @ 4:24/km)

Myself and Roisin were supposed to be joining the club this evening but when we got down there the sessions didn’t suit (Track Intervals) so we went off for a tempo session of our own instead. This involved 800m laps of an industrial park which we’d covered back in early Spring. The idea was that I’d hit off for 5 laps at 4:25/km pace and aim to catch Roisin after 4 laps of her 5:20/km tempo. It worked well but it took about an extra 300m to catch her. This gave me a 4.3km Tempo session without really having to think about it (even though there was a reasonable breeze on half the circuit). We’d have done more but had to cut it short due to time. We’ll be back next week for more of the same, but longer!

Wednesday, July 8th: 18.0km MLR (5:26/km)

Stopped off in the PP for this MLR. Parked in the usual spot and decided to take in the Canal toe path rather than the park (which is getting a little too familiar recently). All went very well and the legs were reasonably fine after last night’s Tempo session. I really enjoy the stretch from Ashtown westwards up to the 12th lock with the relatively fresh tarmac. The Broombridge end is much rougher surface, mainly from illegal fires burning into the path surface!

Thursday, July 9th: Rest Day

Had to meet up with some people visiting Dublin so failed to get out for a run today. Couldn’t run at work either as had a Pilates class instead.

Friday, July 10th: 30.0km LSR with last 12km @ MP(4:47/km) (5:14/km)

This was the big one of the week! I was planning all week on running an extra km today in order to hit the 30km mark. 30km always signals a big run in my mind, kinda like a 20 mile run for imperialists(!) out there, yet it’s 2 km shorter!

By Friday afternoon I was tired after work so went for a power nap before hitting the roads around 5:30pm. A few quick laps of the local park before my route began the out & back section via Coolock, Raheny, Kilbarrack and back again through Coolock. I wasn't feeling very fresh for the initial 7-8km but things soon got better. By the time I reached the coast there was a temperature drop of about 5 degrees in the final 50 metres - A total micro-climate around Dublin Bay!

After adding on an extra couple of kms towards Sutton, I considered adding in a faster section towards the end of the run. I knew it was about 10km from the Coast road directly back to the apartment so I thought I'd try doing 5km+ at MP. The first km was easy but the second km coincided with the start of a long slight drag which would continue nearly all the way home. I reset my target pace to be anything faster than 5:00/km as opposed to 4:45/km as I had originally hoped for. Thankfully though the tougher part of the hill was short and I was back on original target pace again within a couple of minutes. 

By the time I arrived back at Northwood Demesne I knew I'd require a couple of 1 mile laps to hit the 30km goal for today's run. So, instead of easing back off MP pace I decided to stick with it all the way to the end for what I reckoned in total would be a 10km section @ MP. A little while later I arrived back at the apt as planned with 30km flat on the Garmin. It was only when I loaded the run onto GarminConnect that I realised I'd actually ran 12km @ MP! I was pleasantly chuffed with this and the even better thing was that I felt I could have ran a few extra MP kms still!

This was a huge confidence builder for me so, with 11 weeks to go, I'm in position A1 for Berlin. Just need to build on that over the next 8 weeks and stay fit now!

Saturday, July 11th: 6.1km Hartstown Parkrun (20:59)

I was intent on running a parkrun this morning regardless of the big run yesterday so I ventured once again to Hartstown to meet up with Gary.

Only, I didn’t!

I arrived a little late so as I was running up to the start line the pack were already gone about 35 seconds! This was my third time arriving late for a parkrun (Malahide and Poppintree previously) and to be honest it’s quite enjoyable slicing through the main bunch throughout the first half of the race.

I said hello to Gary as I passed by after about 600m and at that stage I was in about 25th position. Kept picking others off for the next 10 mins before plateauing around the 3km marker. Passed one or two more between here and the end but by now people were going at my pace.

Obviously the body wasn’t able to put in an optimal performance but I was quite happy when arriving over the finish line just a couple of seconds under 21mins (Garmin time) for 8th place in the end. Looking back at the official times I would have finished in about 5th position if I was there from the start. Finished off with a 1.1k cool down.

Sunday, July 12th: 12.0km Recovery #1 (7km @ 5:31/km) & Recovery #2 (5km @ 5:34/km)

To cap off a great week of running I was feeling good in the morning so went out for a recovery run to get the legs moving. Kept it short and went out later in the evening for a second recovery as it was perfect running conditions. No niggles at all and the legs aren’t too tired so, all in all, feeling good!

Week Summary:

RTW: 7 from 7 days

DTW: 88.5km

DTY: 1,567.6km

Clontarf Half Marathon - 1:45 pacing job.

Monday, June 29th: 7.2km Easy (5:19/km)

Easy run with John around the local park. A little tired after yesterday but not too bad overall. Did feel the quads being a little painful for a few minutes before settling back down again.

Tuesday, June 30th: 11.3km Steady (7km @ 4:50/km)

Went for a local run with Roisin. Very warm this evening. Decided to do about 4 miles at the pace required for next Saturday’s pacing gig in the Clontarf HM. Not too bad and sped up a little towards the end before rejoining Roisin for a slow last couple of kms.

Wednesday, July 1st: 16.3km MLR (5:31/km)

Called to the Phoenix Park on my way home from work for a Medium Long Run. I'm going to do these every Wednesday from now on as the mileage ramps up further in the final 12 weeks.
The run itself went pretty well with an average of 5:31/km, neatly fitting into my desired range. Contemplated stretching it out to 18km but thought I'd better keep something in reserve for Saturday for the pacing job. Good to have been able to consider the extra kms anyways!

Thursday, July 2nd: Rest Day

I was a little tired after yesterday and just felt like a rest day regardless. Even though I'm back to 6 days per week I don't feel like I'm chasing miles like I have done previously. If I want a rest day I generally have less time convincing myself to do so than I would have in previous years.

Friday, July 3rd: 7.5km Easy (5:30/km)

An easy run down in the local park again, just keeping the legs fresh for tomorrow…

Saturday, July 4th: 25.5km Clontarf Half Marathon (1:45:00)

In the few days leading up to it I was a little apprehensive about this pacing gig. The last time I paced here was a 1:40 group with Jamie back in November 2013 and I struggled over the closing miles. Today was 5 mins slower but I wasn’t certain of how I would cope with the distance at that pace. 

The day turned out to be very warm with a strong breeze as myself and Roisin did a warm-up. I ran into a few of the usual suspects with Niall, Jamie, Matt, Peter and Brian all pacing as well. Met Shane for the first time after knowing the name through Boards for quite a while. I grabbed my balloon and made way for the start area about 5 mins before race was due to start. Peter took a bit longer to get there after being stuck in a queue at the toilets and just about made the race start!

We were in the second wave and as such there was a little bit of free path for us to run on when we crossed the start line. Almost immediately though our balloons got tangled and after a few attempts at detangling I gave up and we accepted our fate and simply ran tangled together! We had just enough length in the balloon strings though to be able to go either side of slower runners and arch over them with the balloons!

We had advised our pacees to take it easy on the sand on the way out as it was going to be much tougher on the way back. It was still tough enough on the way out mind you, but we held a pretty sizeable gang all the way to the turnaround near Kilbarrack. The wind was in our face and much tougher now so we eased off the pace a little to give people a chance to stay with us. Unfortunately though many slipped away at this stage.

The return on the sand was very tough for most of the gang and we ended up simply churning through runners as we caught, ran with and then dropped lots that were struggling into the wind on the beach. Thankfully I was still able to manage the pace reasonably well and there was no issue of me not completing my task today!

As we left the beach we encouraged people to stick with it as we were over the worst now. I mentioned to Peter that I'd drop back and try to get a few other bodies to stick with us to the finish as we only had 4-5 pacees at this stage. Over the course of the next kilometre I managed to get 3 others to make the step up across to Peter and on the run in to the finish a couple of stragglers were coaxed across the line to 1:45:00 on the dot on my watch. In reality they would probably have been slightly over as I'm sure they fell off their original pace, but hey, at least they saved themselves a few extra seconds regardless!

After the couple of km before the race and the decent session just completed I managed to get another mile of cool-down under my belt before heading to Bay for Lunch. Roisin completed her run with lots of energy remaining and covered 27km for the day to make it a successful day all round!

Sunday, July 5th: Rest Day

I was meant to do a short easy run but ended up having a few too many beers last night so figured there’d be nothing to be gained from the intended run. Will have to cut down these excuses for the remainder of the plan til Berlin!

Week Summary:

RTW: 5 from 7 days

DTW: 67.8km

DTY: 1,479.1km

Overcoming a hip injury

Monday, June 22nd: 6.1km Easy (5:30/km)

An easy run to get the week started. Hip injury still at me.

Tuesday, June 23rd: 12.0km Easy (5:22/km)

Planned on running with Roisin this evening but the hip is getting worse and after 500m of running at 6:15/km I was beginning to limp-run with the pain! I had to push on and run at a more natural pace at which the pain was far less. Still though it was quite tight and sore afterwards. Time to tackle this head-on at this stage…

Wednesday, June 24th: Rest Day

Since the hip injury wouldn’t go away and actually got sorer yesterday I decided to book in with my local physio across the road. I’ve had good success here before, but even so I was more hopeful than confident of getting a positive outcome. After a few minutes of poking around the problem area he carried out a few diagnostic test including getting me to do bridge (impossible!) and some other stretches. By the end of the 35 minutes he had managed to solve the issue and it had improved so much I was back able to complete the bridge. The advice was a couple of days rest and then I should be able to get back into things as normal. Delighted with that!

Thursday, June 25th: Rest Day

Injury felt almost 100% fixed today but I thought I’d still take it easy as directed by the physio.

Friday, June 26th: 27.0km LSR with 6k @ MP (5:21/km, 4:45/km)

Time of reckoning! I felt A1 today so ventured to the Phoenix Park once more for my LSR. Very hot and muggy again, but at least there was a breeze this week to help cool me down. The target was 26km and after venturing via the War Memorial Gardens I decided on a route to bring me up to 27km instead. The final 6km were completed at 4:45/km and felt a bit better than last week afterwards.

Next LSR will see me bringing the MP segment down to 4:40/km so no doubt will be tougher again. I will then start increasing the MP distance over the next few weeks. Fun times ahead!!

Saturday, June 27th: 6.1km Easy (5:15/km)

A very easy run around rural Tyrone. Ran this on my own and encountered very little traffic or pedestrians.

Sunday, June 28th: 24.3km LSR (6:14/km)

Joined Roisin with her LSR today. I knew the pace was going to be very manageable so figured I’d do at least half. As it was the effort and duration were perfect and we even managed to cover 24.3km on the footpaths of Omagh! There were a few spots where I’d be happier to do a workaround rather than tackle the urban cambered path with busy traffic alongside, but overall it was enjoyable.

So, that finishes off a week with two LSRs in three days where I initially thought I’d be taking a couple of weeks off due to injury!

Week Summary:

RTW: 5 from 7 days

DTW: 75.5km

DTY: 1,411.3km