Well that weekend didn't go according to plan!

Saturday, 21st September, 2013 – 3.0km Warm Up (5:15/km) and 13.1km DCM Series HM - Aborted run (4:40/km)

Pacing crew before the run

Bit of a disaster today with the Half Marathon. Ended up having to drop out after 8 miles for reasons I’m still struggling to comprehend. 

The day started off well with an easy jog across to the gathering point where I met my fellow pacers. After a few photos and general chat myself and Johnny went off for a couple more kilometres with the main aim to expand the HM out into an overall Long Run. Before long we were back in the starting positions for the race.

Myself and Joe and Dominic were positioned at the start of Wave two where I was briefly joined by my Brother. Damien played it smart however and retreated back a few rows as we were about to start as he felt 1:40 would be too fast for him. A couple of minutes after the first wave was set off we were moved up to the starting line and a few seconds later we were off.

Almost immediately Dominic lost his flag off his pole even though Eugene had gone round to most/all pacers and duct taped them together. The first few miles went well with the run down Khyber being nice and handy way to start and the pull up to wellington being the first little challenge of the day. Before long we were out the back of the Zoo and running on the North Rd. By mile 3 we were on target but we all felt mile 2 had been a little long and mile 3 a little short so we were going to have to keep a close eye on things. Around this time a pacee almost went flying to the ground alongside me – another victim of unintentional tripping in such a close knit group.

We continued on to the Castleknock gate before doubling back and then going through Farmleigh. I had been keeping a close eye on 4:40/km on my watch and was happy that we were well on target. Around here I noticed my HR was higher than I’d have expected it to be but thought little of it. After a brief spell outside the Park we returned in through Knockmarroon Gate and almost all of a sudden I started to feel like things were getting tough. Hoping it was just a temporary blip I continued on silently in the hope things would get easier. They didn’t. It was getting progressively tougher throughout mile 7 and by the time we were on the Ordnance Survey Road I was a few metres behind the other guys. The breeze was on our backs around here but I was finding the temperatures pretty warm and the lack of cooling air to be an issue. I stuck at it though as I hoped things would get easier again when we hit Chesterfield Avenue where it opens up and hopefully the side breeze would act as a cooler. Unfortunately though about 500m along that road I was now struggling to keep within 10m of the other two guys and felt things were just getting worse. I knew that on a normal day I could just ease off and jog it home to the finish but that wasn’t an option today with the pacing responsibility. There was nothing left to do but notify the guys I was cooked and had to pull out. First though ihad to make up the 10m to tell them that which was a fair old struggle on its own! I felt like a right dick having to pull out of the pacing job, that’s just not supposed to happen! The guys were very understanding in fairness to them and they looked like they had it covered anyways so just after the 8 mile marker I pulled in to the side of the road, so annoyed with myself.

HR data for Dublin HM - I would have expected it to be around 152bpm average

In the immediate aftermath I tried to work out why this had happened. Probably a few contributing factors – Poor nutrition the day before, warm temperatures, I had two t-shirts on (to avoid chafing mostly), the backpack was giving me serious issues for the opening miles and even after that it was still a little uncomfortable, and finally the MLR on Thursday combined with the Yasso’s on Wednesday and the Athlone HM last weekend were probably just too much too soon before the race.

Sunday, 22nd September, 2013 – Rest Day.
To make a miserable weekend even worse Mayo fell to the Dubs! In fairness Dublin deserved it but can't help thinking that if COC was quicker taking the two straightforward frees or the Ref played the 30 secs he promised (the Dublin cynicism demanded another play be allowed!) then perhaps we might have been able to tag on another point and come back another day. Oh well, c'est la vie! 63 years now...!

Week 38 Summary:
RTW: 6 from 7 days
DTW: 72.0 km
DTY: 3,033.8 km
Chicago - 21 days (3 weeks, 0 days)

Monday, 23rd September, 2013 – Rest Day.
My post match funk had not yet cleared so tacked on another rest day.

Tuesday, 24th September, 2013 – 32.0km LSR with 2 x progressions (5:14/km)
I had yesterday and today off work so this afternoon I went for an LSR as my last long run before Chicago. The first 8km were done at a leisurely pace, approximately 5:25/km. As I turned on to the royal Canal however I found myself getting a little bored so decided to throw in a progression type segment whereby I ramped up the effort a little extra at the start of every new km. By the time I turned around at 12th Lock I had ran 15km so I threw in another similar progression segment on my return to Phibsboro. The remainder of the run was back down to 5:20/km pace and i managed to append an extra 2km to bring the overall distance up to 32km by the end. Pretty knackered by then and not really enjoying the abdominal wall issues...think I may have tweaked something in that region but probably actually all connected to the same niggle I've had the past few weeks with the hamstring/glute/adductor/abdomen now. Feels like the injury is just floating around the place! If it was just in a localised area I'd have gone to the physio by now but can't think how such a vague injury could be diagnosed that easily.
The progression data shows the following Max HR vs Pace graph:

I hope to build this up over a few more runs and races to see if the correlation bears resemblance to the theoretical HR ranges for speed zones. We shall see.
Week 39 Summary (so far):
RTW: 1 from 2 days
DTW: 32.0 km
DTY: 3,065.8 km
Chicago - 18 days (3 weeks, 4 days)

The calm before the...long & slow running!

Monday, 8th July, 2013 – 41km Cycle to Ratoath (27kph) + (1.5km Recovery Run)
My small toes on both feet were quite bruised after all the long distances so I decided to go for a cycle instead. Very enjoyable 41km followed and when I got home I threw the runners on thinking I’d get a few running kms added. However, after 500m of running it was obvious the toes were too sore and were causing over compensating tightness on the outside of my right leg so I looped around for a truncated 1.5km.

Tuesday, 9th July, 2013 –7.2km Recovery Run (5:15/km)
Thankfully the toes were much better today so I pushed myself out the door for an easy run but the first few kms were tough so it resulted in recovery pace instead. By 3km the legs were coming round and the final few kms were ran a bit faster. Overall though feeling a bit jaded for a few days now. Not sure if it’s the heat or the accumulated mileage or simply them both.

Wednesday, 10th July, 2013 –11.2km IMRA Race #8 – Ballinastoe
I’d already ran my 7th League race so I was guaranteed a LL prize regardless but the lovely weather this week was drawing me back to the hills. I gave Felim a lift from Loughlinstown and we were parked well in advance of the start. The course was a 2.5km outward section followed by a large 6km loop and then a run back along the initial 2.5km section again.

Just after cresting the first 2.5km hill

Right from the off we were climbing - up fireroads first, then followed by a rocky path through the woods. As has happened most of the time this year I started too far back in the field which meant I was well over 100th position by the first 200m. I wasn’t too bothered though as I didn’t fancy racing this one flat out due to a general apathy which included a total lack of a warm-up (I figured I was already warm and the first 2km were uphill so I’d be much warmer & without stressing the muscles too much so that should work perfectly). I passed lots of people on this long climb with most taking walking breaks waaay too early! Of course this led to me falling into step with some of their rhythms and therefore me walking when most of the time I didn’t really need to! Eventually we were cresting the hill and soon afterwards turning left and away from the glare of a low-setting sun. Much of the next 5km was downhill through pine trees, flat through pine trees and uphill through pi… you get the drift! The branches were very low lying so it felt like I was constantly bent over trying to avoid them. At one stage I had just passed a Junior runner and no more than 60secs later I heard him go flying to the ground behind me. I slowed and turned and asked him if he was ok but there was already 4 or 5 following runners asking the same so I continued on. There would be no pressure on me for a while now I thought as everyone would have slowed down due to the incident but lo and behold within 30 seconds the kid was trying to pass me again! Fair play to him. A minute later I was catching another junior runner in front of me so I rewarded the kid behind me by stepping aside and letting him past to chase his challenger. Unfortunately though, it seemed they were mates and once he caught up to the other lad they slowed to have a chat! Luckily for me the Junior course veered off from our course about 200m later and they were no longer holding me back.

More uphill!

A couple of more uphill kms followed before we looped back around to the outward trail and turned for home along the opening 2.5km. At this point I passed 2 or 3 guys on the top of the hill, so once we were descending the rocky path there were two ladies about 100m and 200m ahead of me. I made it my goal to overtake the two of them by the finish. The first girl held out for about 3-4 mins before I passed her and shortly afterwards we arrived out onto the fireroad for home and there I passed the other girl. Next up was a guy a further 100m ahead who was just passing an early starter. We were now only about 600m from the finish so I was quite literally running out of road! I had caught the early starter pretty quickly and with about 300m to go I was reeling in the guy. 100m later and I was on his shoulder but I was reckoning he’d find a boost of energy once he knew I was about to pass him. Seizing the inititative I upped my speed to maximum effort for the run in to the finish and to my surprise there was no fightback whatsoever from the other guy leaving me to beat him by 20-30m. The last 130m was clocked at 3:09/km pace which shows I wouldn’t have lasted much longer or I’d have blown up!

A quick headcount at the finish and I reckoned I might have sneaked into the top 60 as I waited to see how Felim and Jeff had done. They came home shortly after me and with the arrival of the flies we dalled no more and departed. As it turned out I was credited with 72nd position which was a little disappointing. There were several people who went the wrong way on the course and had been marked down as DNF but I was left wondering was there not a lot more who may have ran a short course also because there was one or two people who finished ahead of me whom I was sure I had passed early in the race.

Anyways, not to worry too much considering my attitude at the start. Another enjoyable Wednesday evening league race but that’s my lot for this Summer as the last race is next week and I won’t be able to make it. Hopefully I’ll be back out for a few casual runs after work over the next few weeks.

Thursday, 11th July, 2013 – Rest Day
Felt a bit tired from last nights mountain run and had a couple of things lined up in the evening so logged this one as a rest day.

Friday, 12th July, 2013 – 11.9km Recovery Run (5:35/km)

Just another slow recovery paced run to keep ticking over in advance of the HM pacing job tomorrow.

Saturday, 13th July, 2013 – 21.3km Clontarf Half Marathon (5:36/km)
Already a scorching day in Clontarf when i got there i was happy that I was pacing this and not racing! Met up with my 2hr pacing buddy Conor a while before the start as well as the others including Michael, Dominic and Matt who had to run solo with the 1:45 gang.

Everything went pretty well with a nice gang with us as far as the turnaround point near Kilbarrack. As we ran back however people started to drop off mostly due to the fact the cooling breeze was now on our back and thereby not functioning so well. When we were back on the beach the group was whittling away further and the soft sand exiting onto the wooden bridge decimated the group altogether. A few people remained and we picked up a few stragglers on the run-in to help get them in under 2hrs. It was Conor's first time pacing and he should be happy with a job well done as we finished in 1:59:37.

Sunday, 14th July, 2013 – Rest Day
Even though it was only a pacing job yesterday was still in the legs. Wasn't helped by going out for a few too many drinks in the evening time either!! Rest and recovery today!

So, not a huge amount of kms this week but with it being yet another taper(!) I am reasonably happy. Main thing now is to avoid injury before Friday!

Week 28 Summary: 

RTW: 5 from 7 days

DTW: 53.1km

DTY: 2277.8km

Cork Half Marathon

Sunday 2nd June 2013 – 4.6km Easy run (4:55/km) 
I got the train down to Cork the evening before so after manning the pacer stand from 4-5pm and then watching the Ireland v Georgia game in the hotel, it was time to go out for a short leg loosener. I managed to run the last couple of kms of the race course in ideal weather conditions so all was nicely set up for running tomorrow.

Week 21 Summary:

RTW: 7 from 7 days

DTW: 89.9km

DTY: 1,795.1km

Monday 3rd June 2013 – 21.4km Cork Half Marathon (4:39/km)

I ran the one mile from the hotel to City Hall for the pacers meet-up but was there pretty early so went across to the marathon start at 9am. A quick chat with Tom and Eamonn (the 4:30 pacers) and the race was soon started. Great weather for it and I made my way back to city hall to get a bus to the HM start in Mahon. Unfortunately there were a few issues with bus availability meaning that when we eventually got to the race start it was delayed by almost 30 minutes. This allowed for a good chat with several of the pacees. My pacing partner Ben arrived at this time also and before too much of an inconvenience we were walked to the start line itself.

It was just then that I noticed there was no start mat for our chips. This was a big let down for many of the runners who had paid over €50 for this race and now they would only have official gun times and no proper chip times.

The race itself started well. There was some congestion in the early minutes but it was never too bad. Almost immediately the marathon field veered right and we continued along the road and into Blackrock. Not long later the marathon course rejoined our route again. For most of the time along the Marina there was lots of people around us and we were probably carrying about 40-50 pacees with us at this stage.

Throughout the first few kms we were keeping a close eye on the pace as we wanted to ensure the volume of runners didn’t distract us from the main job of keeping a steady pace. The pace bands at the expo stated a 4:44/km pace would complete the 21.1km in 1:40:00. However, these races usually end up being long for GPS devices so I was aiming to keep things closer to 4:42/km and thereby allowing a 50 second cushion for a long course.

I had described the course to pacees as split into one third flat, middle third undulating with the final third flat all the way to the finish. By the time we hit the South Link road we were beginning into the hilly middle third and it didn’t take long for some of our group to drift away around here. We eased off the pace when going uphill to give people a chance to stick with us and regained the time on the downhill and flats. The steepest part of the day came soon after with the corkscrew turn up onto Turners Cross. After this I noticed the beginning of heavy breathing in our group as one by one another bunch of people started to whittle away.

We did our best to coax the gang through the inclines and we were soon at the top of Model Farm Road but the group was now down to about 6 or 7. I was happy to confirm all the hills were done away with now and the run in to Cork should be very manageable. My mind soon changed though as we turned right at the end of Inchigaggin Lane and onto the Straight road only to be met with a strong breeze. This made the 2km stretch tougher than it should have been and around now we noticed our av pace of 4:42/km was going to be very tight for the finish. So, combined with the breeze we now had to push the pace into the late 4:30’s to ensure we finished inside our time. In fairness to the remaining group they kept it going most of the way and by the time we were in the park crossing the Lee we advised a few of the stronger runners to push on, which they did. A couple of other runners started to fade and we did our best to keep them going but it was just a tiny bit too fast for them and they fell away over the closing mile.

With about 1,000m to go myself and Ben were running alone for the first time today. We tried to grab a few people as we went past them on the run-in to the finish but we soon realised we’d need almost a sprint finish from Patrick’s Bridge just to get in on time ourselves! The last few hundred metres was ran closer to 4:00/km pace and as I crossed the line I stopped the watch on exactly 1:40:00! The distance read the course to be 270m long but the reality may well be somewhere in the middle. Thankfully anyone who was fit for sub 1:40 appeared to nail it and the first runners to miss out on the time did so by about 40-50 seconds so they would always have been just a little short of pace regardless.

Afterwards I jogged back to the hotel for a shower before returning to ‘Pana’ for a few pints with some familiar faces as well as some new. Everybody agreed it was a tough day with humidity high from the start but also the sun breaking out later on and making it especially difficult for the marathoners. 

Hopefully nothing clashes next year and I’ll be back in Cork once more.Total distance including jog to/from hotel = 24.0km

Tuesday 4th June 2013 – 8.9km Easy run (5:04/km)

Went out very late in the evening for this in order to avoid the sweltering heat. When I actually went outside I discovered the weather was perfect – it was just my apartment that was sweltering! An easy 8.9km followed. I shortened the route to allow for taper and by the time I returned home I barely knew I had been out at all!

Week 22 Summary (so far):

RTW: 2 from 2 days

DTW: 32.9km

DTY: 1,828.0km