Going longer, faster

Friday, 8^th March – 17.5km with 14km @ MP (4:39)

Called over to Clontarf this evening for a run along the prom to Sutton and back. I decided to throw in a significant amount of MP during this run as I wasn’t sure what tomorrow’s long group run would offer. Plus, I felt running a decent session tonight would make the miles tomorrow tougher and feel more like the end of a marathon which would offer good training.

A few progressively quicker kms at the beginning and I was moving at 4:3x pace as planned. This seemed to feel hardish from the beginning which slightly worried me before I realised it was down to the breeze coming in off the coast. Sure enough when I turned at the Sutton end of the prom the running felt much easier, although this only lasted for a few mins before I seemed to lose the wind advantage again! Managed to keep it going all the way to the end though and the HR never really went above 150bpm for too long. Still struggling to get the body working hard enough to match the heart's capacity. I guess the workload is still a bit too heavy for the legs to properly recover between sessions although I am getting closer since the rest day on Wednesday.

Saturday, 9^th March – 29.3km LSR

Arrived in Howth to be met by a fine gang of Boardsies (Martha & MrStew, Claralara & Digger, Meno & Grahamor amongst others) and friends & family of Boardsies for a group run to Glenageary. I brought a backpack with me for the run so I’d have a layer to throw on me at the end for my return DART journey.

The first km was nice and handy but by km2 we were already at 5:00/km pace and this was how it would continue for the remainder of the run. I found this a great pace as I was almost comfortable but still pushing just enough to be getting good training on the back of last night’s run. We arrived at Westwood Gym in no time and had a brief stop-off there for drinks before off we continued. This next bit I really wasn’t looking forward to because we were running through the Port and all it’s crappy lack of scenery before we arrived at the Poolbeg Pier and a mile of running into the wind over paving slabs. I’m sure on a nice day it’s got it’s attractions but not today! We then continued through Irishtown Nature Reserve before getting back out onto the South Dublin coastal footpaths. 

The group was broken up by this stage with a handful of people pushing on for MP miles in which I had no interest. Things were getting a little tougher for me now as I maintained my 5:00/km but I was beginning to feel the effects of over 44km of running (at a decent clip) in less than 20hrs. It was probably more mental than physical though but when I saw Booterstown DART station my mind was made up. I stalled a couple of minutes for Digger to pass and I let him know I was bailing. Of course the extra layers were no match for a cold sweat and cold weather so I was extremely relieved when I eventually managed to return to the car and blast the heating all the way to 11...another escape from the jaws of hypothermia!! 

Overall, a very enjoyable run with the gang and good to meet a few new people also even if conversations were unfortunately very brief!

Sunday, 10^th March – Rest Day

A number of factors led to this being a rest day including excess alcohol last night, Long Run yesterday and the terrible weather today. It was easy to decide the smart move was perfecting my ass groove on the couch!

Week 10 Summary:
RTW:   6 from 7 days
DTW:   94.1 km
DTY:    839.8 km