Stook 10 miler

Monday, 11th November, 2013 - 11.9km LT Effort Run (4:36/km)

I wasn’t sure what was going to be on the cards this evening given how I felt after the MP run and the LSR last week so I went out with a general plan to assess after the first 500m. Thankfully things felt well by that stage so I pushed on over the next couple of kms. With Stook 10 miler (where I intend to run @ MP pace with a few easy miles before and recovery miles afterwards) on next Sunday I wanted to get the fast run out of the way as early as possible this week. So, as the first couple of kms got a little faster I was soon in LT effort territory. Even though the legs were feeling pretty decent they were still somewhat lagging in speed with residual from the past month, so the paces were about 10 seconds off where I’d expect them to be.

After 7.5km I turned North onto the Swords Rd though so decided to ease back and ‘recover’ - as much as one could hope to recover - on the next uphill km. Once that was over I was back on the relatively flat Collins Avenue and then upped the effort back to LT for the next 3km (mainly slightly uphill) before finishing with a recovery 400m to the apartment.

So, quite happy with this run as it indicates I’m getting back towards where I should be and hopefully from next week I’ll be pushing on improving once more. Only 4 weeks til Lanzarote so only two weeks of actual training left with a two week taper after that.

Won’t feel it now!

Tuesday, 12th November, 2013 - 13.6km Mountain Night-time Run

I met up with Felim this evening after work for a night time run up in the Dublin Mountains. We did a number of these as group runs last year and once you have a good head torch, suitable clothing and can navigate the terrain then it’s great fun.

Tonight’s run was Seefingan, located South east of Tallaght. I volunteered at this race during the IMRA Leinster League and it was the worst possible decision given we were all eaten alive with the worst case of midges I have ever witnessed! This evening though was a dry cold evening so we weren’t expecting too many of those critters tonight.

I parked the car at an entrance to a trail and we set off from there for the top of Seefin initially. The first km was grand as it was along a fire road without too much of an elevation gain. We eventually came to the start of the trail proper which turned out to be a feint outline where the main feature was the mountain waters streaming down. On our way to the start point Felim had mentioned that a good portion would be on road and given that it hadn’t ained much in the last few days I figured I’d wear road runners rather than trail shoes. Big mistake! My feet were constantly losing traction going up this section and combined with the steep incline I was slowed to a hike from quite early on.

Eventually we got to the top of Seefin where there was a pretty cool burial chamber at the main cairn. After a few minutes of poking around here we moved onwards for Seefingan which was not very far away but we had to dip down into a col before climbing back up to the summit. Again the ground was wet and mucky so the pace was pretty relaxed around here too. After about 10 minutes we got to the top and once again paused for a while to take in the view. Felim’s plan was to hit across to Kippure from here (very evident with its illuminated masts) but I figured it would be even wetter and more miserable from my perspective at least. And, me being such a moaner at this stage I felt Felim wouldn’t much relish me whinging all the way to there and back to the car! So instead, we decided to traverse North to Corrig and then Seachan before making our way out to the small road we’d driven down earlier.

Standing atop what we believed was the main summit we made for the peak in the distance. Unfortunately we were actually about 100m West of the true peak where there was a trail leading between the mountains (see map above). And, what we thought was Corrig actually turned out to be Seachan instead. All this meant that we dropped off the mountainside too far leading us to skirt the boundary of Kilbride rifle range to the West! The terrain around here was a little rough so progress was slow but after 20mins of hiking we discovered our mistake(s) and started to climb back up towards the real Corrig. Eventually we got there but not before we were enveloped with low cloud for 5 minutes.

Once we got to Corrig peak we followed the trail across to Seachan which was straightforward enough. Then we chose our route to drop down to the main road along the forest boundary. This trail coincided with a small stream and I reckon I fell about 5 times coming down this 15 minute track. Thankfully nothing serious though as Felim struggled to refrain from laughing at me because he knew he has a freakish record of twisting ankles himself and that he was running on borrowed time!

We finally reached the main road and at last we were on firm footing. A twenty minute run later and we were back at the car all in two pieces. Then the expected happened. While still in touching distance of the car Felim managed to roll his ankle!

Good to be back out doing night time mountain runs but I don’t think I’ll be back to do this particular run again! And will definitely be wearing the Innov8s in future!

Wednesday & Thursday, 13th & 14th November, 2013 - Rest Day

A very busy real life meant that I failed to get out for a run on either Wednesday or Thursday unfortunately. Hopefully though the busy period is now over and normality will be resumed…

Friday, 15th November, 2013 - 7.4km LT Run (4:32/km)

I was off to the Ireland v Latvia match in the evening so had to get a quick run in beforehand. I took this a bit literally though and ended up running another LT run. I was feeling good at the beginning so after opening with a 4:41km I pushed on for LT pace. 7km later I ended up with 4:24/km as the average. Not bad considering the slower first km and the Swords Road hill to contend with.

The match itself was pretty decent in that Ireland retained possession well with much fewer long balls being hacked upfield. Still a depressing lack of real cutting edge amongst the strikers though and Poland on Tuesday will be a far tougher test.

Saturday, 16th November, 2013 - Rest Day

Took another rest day for a number of reasons, one of which was the 10 mile race tomorrow.

Sunday, 17th November, 2013 - 16.3km Stook 10 mile race (4:34/km) with an 8km (5:04/km) warm-up

Woke up this morning and really didn’t want to leave my bed. I was even considering a DNS for a short while before coming to my senses and got in my car. Arrived in Dungravan, Co. Kilkenny at 10:45am and registered/picked up my number. Got chatting to Johnny briefly and then it was time for my pre-race miles.

I headed out on the course which is a figure of 8 loop and managed to get the first 5km loop completed before heading out on the larger loop for a mile before returning to the village to clock up 8km in total. I had been wearing too many layers – long sleeve t-shirt, short sleeved t-shirt and a light jacket with gloves – so I got rid of the sweaty layers and threw on a fresh short sleeved t-shirt and felt much better.

Before we got underway I ran into a few familiar faces including Gary, Dominic and Kate at the start area. Myself and Kate had similar goal paces so we decided to run together for the first while at least. Around this time Shortstuff from boards made herself known and it was good to meet another boardsie in real life! Not long later we were away.

I was using my course knowledge from my warm up to good effect and so knew when to push on and take advantage of the downhills and when to hang back with uphills. This seemed to allow myself and Kate easy passage through 10-15 runners on the first 5km loop as they seemed to get caught out by an over enthusiatic start. Before long we were back through the village for the start of the second loop. I was averaging marathon pace but unfortunately because the terrain was so undulating the effort was more like a typical 10 mile race.

Course profile

Things remained steady until we reached 5.5 miles. Johnny had me pre-warned that miles 6-8 were all uphill and that 6-7 in particular was the roughest. So, around 5.5 miles we came upon the start of an uphill and seeing as there was no immediate sign of an easing off I commented to Kate to be prepared for 2 miles of this. Almost immediately she began to ease off in order to allow herself to get up and over the climb. I pushed on a bit in front of her at this stage and kept focusing on those in front of me as targets to catch and pass. Progress was minimal initially but by 500m of climbing people were beginning to fade and I started to row them in. A couple of guys stopped to a walk around the 7 mile marker and in total I reckon I passed about 8 people on the climb. There was a female KCH runner about 30m up the road and she had been the same distance ahead since the first 500m. I kept trying to close the gap little by little but she had the match of me all the way up the climb.

The end of the 'flying mile'!

Eventually we reached the high point of the course where there was a big gang of locals offering vociferous support which was very welcome. I gave them a big thumbs up as I turned the corner and started to lengthen my stride. 200m later and we reached the start of mile 9 where the ‘flying mile’ began. This was a one mile section that was all steeply downhill. The organisers laid on timing mats to calculate our mile split. Seeing as the tough part was done and we only had 2 miles left I decided to throw caution to the wind and legged it along this section. I think the five miles before the race started to catch up with me here though and my form/control was pretty wayward for large parts. I just about managed to prevent myself from falling over but before I knew it the mile was done (later found out it was 6:02 (3:45/km)). As soon as I was over the mat I eased back to a more sustainable pace for the last mile.

One of the guys that I had passed on the flying mile managed to pass me again on the last 300m running in to the line. I might possibly have held him off if I tried but I was just happy enough to be finishing up. Passed under the gantry in 74:10 which I was very happy with considering the route was even hillier than I’d expected and the five miles beforehand. I ended up with marathon pace average (4:34/km) but a 10 miler average heart rate of 156bpm with a max of 167bpm. Of course the draw of the after race spread on offer in the community centre combined with the thrashing I gave my legs on the last two miles meant that I reneged on the recovery miles afterwards. I was disappointed with myself for this as I needed a 20+ miler but I reasoned I might end up doing the legs more damage if I went out for more. Not sure if it was the wise decision or just simply the popular decision...

Week 46 Summary (so far):

RTW: 4 from 7 days

DTW: 57.2 km

DTY: 3,521.0 km

Croagh Patrick Heritage Trail...Take 2!

Friday, 28th June, 2013 – 7.5km St Coca's 5km race + 2.5km wu/cd (3:59/km)
I had planned to do this all week but after feeling a bit knackered yesterday I changed my mind and thought I’d give it a miss. Then on Friday morning an email from Philip suggested that the €12 was great value and that I’d probably have that value in food and goodies afterwards! Also, the race was en route to the West so I once more changed my mind and booked the race. For only €12 it really was a great value race. I arrived by 7:30 and after a quick regsitration, short chat with Niall and brief warm up with Philip we went to the start line. Niall had offered to pace me to sub 20mins but I wasn’t too bothered so told him to run his own race, rather than waste his time on mine.

There were lots of fast looking people at the race start and I found myself about 1/3rd of the way back the field. The race started without much congestion and after 200m I found myself on the shoulder of Niall! Eased back from this unsustainable pace and made it over the first bridge without major difficulty. Things settled down pretty quickly and before we knew it we were flying past the ‘kms to go’ signs. The course was very flat with the only two inclines being slight enough. With 1.5km to go things started to get a little tough. My legs weren’t moving at the required rate and the high mileage was catching up with me. I kept the effort up regardless and soon found myself passing the ‘1km to go’ sign. I was running on fumes at this stage and a few people started going past me in the final 500m but I managed to rally to stem the bleeding somewhat. I heard Niall shouting out as I was approaching the line with the countdown to 20mins ticking away. 20:00 as I passed through! This time I didn’t ‘split’ my watch at the real start line so I only have the gun time to go by. Probably the same time in reality as Enfield 6 weeks ago but without any faster training since, so happy enough all things considered. At some stage I will focus on the shorter stuff and aim to make serious inroads on the 5km/10km times but that will all have to wait for the moment! 

Approaching the finish line. Photo courtesy of Peter Mooney.

Saturday, 29th June, 2013 – 62.9km Croagh Patrick Heritage Trail
Back in February I attempted this trail run but called it short at 42km in Aghagower. Unfinished business meant I returned for another attempt on Saturday. The PB equalling 5km run last night probably didn’t help matters but I reckoned it was short enough and that the trail run would be nice and easy paced so there should be little enough overlap of tired muscles.

I started at 8:45am on Saturday morning from Balla Square. The weather was overcast and showery. The wind was pretty weak but I knew it was to get a bit stronger later on. The first 42km to Aghagower was quite similar as last time. Some sections were drier which was a help but then other fields were full of meadow so that took a little longer. It all balanced out to mean that I arrived in Aghagower in approximately the same time (4hrs55mins) as last time but I was definitely in a much better state - the hill just before Aghagower felt nowhere near as tough as last time out.

After a refuelling break in Aghagower I continued onwards past the ruins and the graveyard. Here I was looking for a turn to the left but knew it would be a bit difficult to find. After missing it initially and then asking a farmer in the field next to it I eventually discovered the track. This section was very overgrown and close to unrunnable with briars and nettles and low hanging branches to contend with. After about 800m I emerged out onto the main road again. This I was to later find out was the beginning of the second major hill on the trail. There was a walking group around here so it was good to have some company for a brief while. After a little longer than I’d expected I arrived at the top of the hill. Still I couldn’t view the Reek though as there was quite a bit of low hanging cloud around. 

By this stage my feet were getting sore, especially my little toes. They had been taking the slack for all the uneven off-road terrain to help keep me balanced. By now they were well blistered on top of lots of grit aggravating them. The average pace was beginning to fall back around now as I took a couple of wallking breaks for the uphills. Soon, I was on the downhill section to the Westport-Leenane road. As I crossed over to Brackloon Woods I really felt the worst was behind me and that I was definitely less than 10km from the finish. The next two kms were up through the woods on a nice tree-covered path. It was good to be sheltered from the wind as it had been quite exposed on parts of the last 5 miles and the wind was now quite strong. A couple of kms of back roads followed Brackloon Woods and soon I was at the base of the Skelp. This is where the beginning of the end occurred.

The first 1.5 miles are uphill with an elevation gain of over 150m along laneways and mountain trail. The next mile was further uphill but also had very thick heather which had to be negotiated. This section really broke me and when I eventually got to the end of this section I had to have a sit-down and clean out my shoes and socks! I figured the rest should be easy as it meant dropping height and then contouring around the mountain. The reality however meant the descent was too steep to run and then when contouring there was no trail at all. Instead a few waymarkers dotted along the mountainside gave you the general direction to follow but there was now a very strong wind in my face and the terrain brought an endless amount of downhill streams which made the ground saturated all the way to the end of the trail 2 miles away! 

Eventually I reached the terminal sign, just 100m above St. Patrick’s statue and a further 500m to the main road. 7hrs 55mins after starting out in Balla I reached Campbell’s bar. Happy to be sitting down and no longer having to deal with the unreasonable mountain terrain I ordered and savoured one of the tastiest pints of Guinness I’ve ever experienced!

Sunday, 30th June, 2013 – Rest Day
Small toes on both feet still very tender so no point in going out for a run to compound the matter – rest day instead.

Week 26 Summary:
RTW: 4 from 7 days
DTW: 88.8km
DTY: 2092.5km

I.M.R.A. to the rescue

Monday, 17th June 2013 - Rest Day
Tuesday, 18th June, 2013 - 48.5km Cycle
Unsurprisingly I wasn't in the mood for much on Sunday or Monday but by the time Tuesday came round I fiigured a planned cycle with two mates was the perfect way back to exercise. The cycle was very relaxed for the last 20km so it was a nice reintroduction to the legs.

Wednesday, 19th June 2013 - 9.6km IMRA Sorrell Hill
A lovely evening up around the Blessington lakes was the setting for my 6th IMRA Leinster League race. I started quite a bit back as the plan was not to go out too fast but rather ease into it. The first 1.5km was along a fireroad with a decent incline and then it flattened out. I passed about 20-30 people along here so things were going well, however I was still probably only in 80th position or so.

Nearing the top

We soon departed the fireroad and cut through some trees on a steepish section where the surface was boggy but very dry. After about 500m we were atop Lugnagun and out onto open mountainside where we had a 500m section of a drop and then another 1,000m of flat before we began the climb to Sorrell Hill itself. By this time I had passed about another 10-15 people but once the climb got steep I was quick enough to ease back to a hike. Soon after we met the leaders on their descent so I knew we were close enough to the top.

By the turnaround point on top of Sorrell Hill itself I counted out that I was in approximately 60th position which I was very happy with (65th being my season's best). On the way down I found the new shoes really earned their crust and the grip on the boggy/grassy slopes was much better than I would have been used to with the old shoes. 
(Edit: Eventually when the results were uploaded I discovered that I actually finished in 54th position - Very happy with that!)

Having said that one or two people did go by me but I managed to maintain position by passing a few people myself. Things remained like this til we got back out onto the fireroad coming off Lugnagun. There was only about 1,500m remaining at this point. My legs were turning over as quickly as I could manage yet on the finishing 250m straight I was passed by a couple of other runners. Disappointing but I guess my botched marathon had an effect on my speed this evening.

Final few metres...

Sprint to the line

I really enjoyed this race. I think a lot of this was down to the new pair of Innov8 X-Talon 212s which I bought just two hours beforehand. They are remarkably light with amazing grip on the boggier sections and much better than my old half worn Salomon Speedcross 2s. Unfortunately there was an issue with the results laptop and I'm still awaiting confirmation of my finishing position in what I hope was my best performance of the League so far. At least this race managed to get me back on track with the running and Saturday is now long forgotten!

Thursday 20th June, 2013 - 7.4km Recovery Run (5:27/km)
My legs were quite tender from last nights IMRA run so a nice slow run was required to get them ticking over again. I even flirted with the foam roller as well but figured the soreness is DOMS as opposed to strained/knotty muscles. Not quite sure how the two are related but I figured I ran the risk of further bruising tender muscles with the roller so I stopped before long.

I also debuted my second running purchase of the week this evening – A Garmin 310XT. After playing around with it a bit, some of the improvements on my old 305 included: 

• a more comfortable strap
• quicker to register satellites
• audio sounds available (My 305 used to have this but it disappeared with age!)
• vibratory/pulse alerts
• extra screen for data fields
• extra data fields themselves

Very happy with the new watch overall. Apparently the battery life is significantly longer also so will be taking advantage of that over the next month or so.

Week 25 Summary (so far):
RTW: 2 from 4 days
DTW: 17.0km
DTY: 1908.0km

Finding my level!

Wednesday 22^nd May 2013 – 12.0km Mtn Race # 5 – Glasnamullen and lap of Djouce.

About halfway up to Djouce

Race number 5 in the Leinster League and I was feeling a bit jaded after last nights 5km PB. So, I decided to take it handy enough early on and see how I felt once I started the downhill and take it from there. We started with a lap of the car park field across the main road from the trailhead. This was intended to string out the field before hitting the trail but I’m not quite sure how effective it was as we still seemed pretty well grouped when crossing the road and I was content to sit-in somewhere around 75th place I reckoned.

Dublin Mountains Way

Saturday, 27th April 2013 – 43.4km Dublin Mountains Way 
I’d been looking forward to this Saturday all week as it was the only weekend for the next month that I didn’t have some kind of race to pace or run so effectively it was a free weekend where I could do what I liked. Of course most normal people would probably take it as a chance to ease back and chill out but I was about to take the other path…

Return of Mountain Running

Monday, 22nd April 2013 – 11.8km Recovery Run (5:14/km)
Just a handy recovery run tonight. Took it so easy the av HR was 129bpm but the pace was still quite decent at an av 5:14/km so I’m taking this as a sign of training going well!

The return of IMRA

Sun, 20th Jan – IMRA - Howth Winter

Today marked the return of IMRA races and it all kicked off with the only Northside race which took place in Howth. My preparation wasn't exactly textbook given I'd been out last night with a gang of people from Boards and my gameplan of just one or two drinks went AWOL. All this resulted in a slightly hazy head but then the crisp cold Howth air was just the thing to sort me out.

Back to the hills.

Wed, 16th Jan – 8.7km Recovery Run 
A nice easy recovery run where i was limited with time. Thankfully these runs are now back to the effort expected and i no longer feel like I'm trudging around. More good news with the fact that my sore calf from last night appears fine now.

Thurs, 17th Jan – 11.4km Hill Run - Shankill to Scalp

Night time hill running.

Monday, 7th January  - 14km Hill run - Prince Williams Seat.*
*Unfortunately I only managed to map the return journey from the turnaround point to the car park.
The pathways of Santry and Ballymun can be pretty boring for even a novice, but for someone like me who runs 4+ nights a week along them then you always jump at the chance of doing a run somewhere else, and so it was that the informal boards.ie group (Myself, Digger, Cambo Gueno, Jeawan and his friend) met up at Johnny Fox’s pub after work on Thursday for a jaunt