Nailed it!

Image courtesy of picsdigger.com

On occasion there is a run that goes entirely as planned and even better than you could have anticipated; these are often the runs you do not think too much about and just do. Last night I completed one of those. It might have been the novelty of doing an entirely new workout that motivated me. It was forty minutes at an easy recovery pace, forty minutes at marathon pace plus thirty seconds per mile and forty minutes at marathon pace. The first forty minutes passed uneventfully, the second forty minutes was where I began to really enjoy the session and was especially pleased by how easy it felt, which a low HR evidenced. By now the heavy showers of earlier had dispersed and it was a beautiful evening, which the surrounds of the Phoenix park will always enhance. The third forty minutes at marathon pace felt great and I struggled to hold myself from running it too fast and the pace during this final third was somewhere between marathon and half marathon pace.
The total run distance was 16.34 miles. If the training effect that some claim is a consequence of this workout has any veracity, and it remains as enjoyable but challenging an experience as last night's session, I shall make it a consistent part of future schedules.
The splits are as follows 07:55, 08:23, 8:24, 8:44, 8:21, 7:16, 7:15, 7:13, 7:18, 7:18, 6:49, 6:37, 6:38, 6:42, 6:36, 6:22, 2:20.

Dublin 10k

On 25 July I made my way out to Cherry Orchard for the Dublin 10k. Those who organised the recent Clontarf half marathon also organised this inaugural edition of this race. Consequently, I was had some reservations about this event but to be fair it was one of the best organised events I have ever participated in.
The race began at noon and began at exactly noon. Following a speedy initial quarter mile I settled nicely into race pace and the first mile elapsed in 06:05, so on target for a PB. Many of the hares that flew off at great speed were now dropping back and by the second mile I had settled into a group of three. At this point a guy in a blue singlet who I had momentarily passed drew level and suggested we work together. I am not sure what this intimates but assume it means taking turns pushing the pace and acting as a windbreaker. However, I was the one in poll position at all times and even when I slowed a little to let him take the front position he also slowed. Miles two and three passed in 06:07 and 06:15. At this point I was beginning to conclude that I was not hurting enough and pushed a little harder. By now the field had considerably thinned out and the other runner and I were completely on our own with only two runners visible about a third of a mile ahead.
I completed mile four in 06:16 and was increasingly concerned that I would miss out on a PB on a pretty flat course. Consequently as I passed the seven KM marker I noticeably increased my pace and left my companion behind. I had no idea of the etiquette when doing this but had concluded whatever working together meant I was not benefiting from it. This part of the race was along the recently paved section of the Royal Canal and the next couple of kilometres were quite lonely and no runners around me to provide a competitive edge I think undermined my pace a little. Mile five elapsed in 06:10. The last kilometre was against a stiff headwind and here I struggled to maintain pace but did mile six in 06:17. I passed the finish line on 38:42 giving me a new PB by ten seconds. Considering the stiff winds on parts of the course and running almost half the race on my own I was pretty happy.

Hurricane Clontarf

Photo credit: Racepix 365

It was a tough day at the 'Irish multi-marathon' half marathon and it began with registration! I got to the registration venue seventy minutes before the race time and it was rather farcical. Their was registration on the day, which is always inviting chaos if you're not prepared for it. It took thirty-five minutes to get through the process and those who arrived later had significantly longer than that to get trough it. Additionally, not registering in advance was much more beneficial as you could simply walk past the queue of pre-registered runners and walk up to a table to have your details put into a laptop and away you go; hardly fair.
Anyway, on to the race, which was delayed by twenty-five minutes - I was surprised it was not longer considering. The Lord Mayor was due to start the race but despite it being delayed by twenty-five minutes he managed to pull a no-show and we passed him with his starter horn ambling down the Clontarf promenade about half a mile into the race!
The conditions were exceptionally windy but it was to our backs for the first four miles. Part of this out and back course is on two and a half miles of the Dollymount strand and the wind here was whipping sand up into our faces. The first four miles splits were 06:24; 06:29; 06:28 and 06:20. Here we moved back onto the road and had the wind full blown against us and a deluge of horizontal rain accompanied. Unsurprisingly, the fifth mile split reduced to 07:01. We then turned north-east again and had the wind at our back again with miles six elapsing in 06:22. About half a mile before the turn around the leader passed me heading in the opposing direction against the full force of the wind. From here on in, six miles remaining, the wind would be against us all the way and it would be brutal! Mile seven, 06:39; mile nine; 06:55; mile nine, 06:32. This comparatively fast mile was a result of turning left back to Dollymount strand with the wind coming across us off our right shoulder. It was a bizarre sight to see runners running diagonally and still struggling to remain on course. Back on to Dollymount strand and a right hand turn took us into the teeth of the wind with sand blowing straight up against us. My pace here dropped towards ten minute mile pace, while my HR remained above 165. The next two and a half miles were torture and as we approached the end of the sand section the wind worsened and runners had to run with their heads down and turned left and their right hand raised to protect their eyes. Miles ten, eleven, twelve, back towards Clontarf were, 08:43; 08:22 and 07:55 respectively. Here, back on the promenade a ignorant clown of a cyclist decided he would be the bowling ball to our pins and cut a scythe through three runners including me, while my left elbow indicated our opinion of his antics.
Mile thirteen elapsed in 07: 32. Here, the questionable organisation manifested itself again; as I approached the finish line I could not see it, and then with about forty feet remaining saw in emerge almost eighty degree to my right as I passed a large bush, necessitating a sharp right turn to cross the finish line in 01:32:14. I was pretty pleased with this time, considering the conditions, and I am confident had the weather been different could have finished eight or nine minutes quicker.
I really don't care much for finisher's medals but if you are to get one it would be nice if it indicated for what race you got it, rather than a very flimsy looking piece with '10K' inscribed on it; yes, '10k', not half-marathon. At this point I was just relieved to be finished and that was a coup de grace that brought a chuckle and a smile to my face. All in all, no PB and very questionable organisation but was a good workout in very challenging conditions.

Races planned

Last week I signed up for he Koln marathon in Germany; this is a flat fast race. Following the Newton hills I decided I should reward myself with a flat fast marathon to follow Boston. The Koln marathon takes place on 3 October and achieving a sub three hour time is the primary focus of my efforts between now and then.
However, this has not prevented me from signing up to quite a few races in between, including; the Irish Multi-Marathon half marathon (4 July),the Adidas race series five mile (July 17), the Dublin city of sport 10K (25 July), Frank Duffy ten mile (August 21), the Bristol half marathon (5 September) and potentially the Dublin half-marathon (September 18).
This approach should, I hope, keep me motivated, confident and allow the incorporation of some really useful workouts in preparation for a serious assault on a sub three time.
Training of late has progressed pretty well, and conditions willing, this Sunday's half marathon should be a good test of where I am. This month's mileage total will be 234, which represents a lifetime second highest monthly mileage.

The plan

It's been an obscenely long time since my last post so felt compelled to provide an update - however brief. I am back into marathon training and have complete weekly mileage of fifty-six, forty-three and fifty in the last three weeks. I am following an amended Pfitzinger & Douglas up to seventy miles schedule. There will be a significantly increased emphasis on running many more marathon paced runs. This will involve more sessions with marathon or faster pace miles each week, while being careful that the recovery runs are truly that. Each week will involve either three or four marathon pace miles in the mid week 'medium long run' or between eight and twelve miles at marathon pace within the weekend 'long slow run'. In addition to this race specific workout I will include a tempo and a 5k pace interval workout. Short recovery runs will intersperse these 'quality sessions'. I will take a flexible approach to this number of quality sessions per week and convert one of them into a recovery session if I feel my body warrants it. So, that's the plan for my autumn marathon. I have not signed up to any yet but Koln is a likely candidate. In the meantime I have entered the Irish Multi-marathon on 4 July. I hope it will not be as baking hot as it was last year.

One family 5K

Following the pretty positive experience of competing in the ARC 10K I signed up for the 'onefamily' 5k run. Also, I have never run a 5k race so thought it was time to put that right. Onefamily is a charity that supports single parent families. The race started fifteen minutes late with about sixty or seventy runners toeing the starting line. There didn't appear to be very many competitive runners present, which my presence in the top five runners in the first few hundred metres confirmed. A few hundred metres into the race and a look at the Garmin demonstrated I was running at the suicidal pace of almost five minute miles and I backed right off and fell back into about seventh place. By the first kilometre I had settled into six minute mile pace and had moved up to fourth place.
The first mile elapsed in 06:01. However, the guy in third place, a couple of paces in front seemed to be suffering and the pace was dropping towards 06:30. Consequently I pressed on into third place. About 2.5KMs in I was pretty much running on my own. The fourth place guy was now probably four hundred metres back and the first and second place guys were about the same ahead of me and I had settled for finishing third. The second mile split was 05:59.
The course consisted of two laps of the Furze road and Ordnance road. Soon after the beginning of the second and lap and just before the second mile split I realised the gap between me and the leaders had closed. I decided to maintain my six minute mile pace and see how close it took me to the leaders. Going back up Ordnance survey road the northerly breeze against us was noticeably stiff now and I continued to close the gap and could sense the leaders, especially the leader were slowing up. Both leaders were level with each other now and they looked over their shoulder to see me closing to about 100 metres.
Just before the right hand turn back onto Chesterfield road I drew level with them and decided to move onto the lead. I thought it was worth the risk as, if I blew up then so be it, as I have a poor finishing kick and unless I opened a gap now then it was pointless to stay level. Additionally, the worst case scenario would be I that I would blow up and finish in the same time I would by staying level and the best case would be finishing quicker and maybe even winning the race.
The third mile elapsed in 06:01 and I knew now the course was long by up to quarter of a mile. I quickly opened a gap of about thirty metres and just continued to maintain a pace of about 05:50 minute miles. However, the former leader put a burst in and I had to move well into the red zone. With about 200 metres to go the guy in second place put in another burst and I had to lay down another sprint over the last 200 metres. I passed through finish the line in 19:53 with second and third place following five or six seconds later.
The race was 5.4KMs, which according to MacMillan gave me an 18:22 5k finish. Not exactly the fastest 5k winning time in the world and I have to admit being a little embarrassed to win a '5k' race in such a comparatively slow time. However, there's a saying about a gift horse and looking it in the mouth. The very, perhaps overly so, generous winning prize of a one hour flying lesson voucher was greatly appreciated.

ARC 10k

I entered this race with some trepidation considering the farce that was the Aware 10k. However, ARC is a very worthy charity so thought it worth the risk. As it transpired my worries were unfounded and it was a really well organised event. The course was also good, challenging but departing from the usual 10K route in the Phoenix park; perhaps the disaster of the Aware 10K prompted this?
The 403 competitors started shortly after 10am. For the first three kilometres I was still about sixty feet behind the leaders and was a little worried about the pace. However, I felt good and decided to keep going. The first three mile splits were 06:13, 06:12 and 06:01. The third one included the Khyber Pass downhill. The second five kilometres were included three hills up Military road, Upper Glen Road, and the Lower Glenn Road. While I slowed a bit my splits were 06:18, 06:22, and 06:22. Over the last two kilometres I sped up and picked off three places here and lost none. I had no idea where my placing was. Down military road I dropped two lads who had been with me for the first 5k. At the top of Knockmaroon road I passed two other runners and closed in on another two a couple hundred metres ahead. During the first 5k all the aforementioned runners were part of group. In the last 600 metres I passed another guy in black who looked like he was suffering pretty badly. I made an attempt to close the next runner in the Raheny AC singlet but could not make up the distance before the line. I crossed the line in 38:51, which meant a new PB. I was very happy with this and finished ninth. A PB and a top ten finish; I'll take that!
What also pleased me about this performance was the average HR of 180, the highest average HR I have ever recorded. I am not sure if this indicates residual fatigue from Boston or an increased ability to operate at a higher effort level.
I also have to compliment the organisers; it was one of the best organised races I can recall competing in and had a good unfussy atmosphere. Despite Frank Greally's, perhaps facetiously declared, ambition to rival the women's 'mini-marathon', I hope it remains the small, enjoyable and well run event it is.