Not sure where to start this week so best just get to it.
Monday 22nd July
Was feeling a bit peeved off with the result from the 10K yesterday and the general why bother training for little results argument going on in my head. Also found out that the last 2 people I know that were doing Berlin had pulled out for different reasons. No longer sure I wanted to head over by myself for the weekend but decided to give it a few days and talk to a few people about it. No rash decisions. No training today just recovering from the race.
Tuesday 23rd July
The usual club session with Gary tonight. Warm up loop followed by a lap of hard straights, bends easy and then it was down to business. The session tonight was 2x1K, 2x800, 2x400. The 1k's were to be run at 5K PB pace and then for the 800's we had to run 4 seconds a lap quicker and another 4 seconds quicker again for the 400's with recoveries reducing all the time. My splits were (4:11, 4:12, 3:13, 3:12, 1:28, 1:29). Finished up with a nice cool down for approx 10.5K in total.
Really enjoyed this session although the legs were a bit tired from Sunday managed to hit the required pace for the first couple of K's and then be able to reduce it as required. Finished tired but happy.
Wednesday 24th July
Rest Day. Gary has put together a weekly plan for people to follow if interested for the marathon and he suggests a rest day on Wednesday after speed session on Tuesday and before a tempo run on Thursday. I wasn't going to argue!!!
Thursday 25th July
Tempo Run. The plan was for a 7 mile tempo run at marathon pace. This is something I haven't been doing recently i.e. a 2nd session in the week and is probably something that should bring about improvement? Did around a mile warm up and then a couple of stretches before setting off. Got a couple of nice showers to cool us down during the run which took in a couple of loops of Gormanston College as well as a loop outside it. Kept the pace fairly steady throughout and think I picked it up a bit for the last mile finishing with an average pace of around 4:55 per KM. Would have been happy with anything around 5 min pace so to be slightly quicker was nice. Tagged on another K warm down.
Would be nice to get a group together to do these if possible. It's so much better when others are running rather than trying to do it by yourself.
Friday 26th July
Plan was for 8 miles but I had to play a matchplay semi-final after work which we sadly lost on the 18th hole :-(
Saturday 27th July
9.6K Easy run. Got out in the morning when Charlie was asleep. Nothing much to report from what I can remember.
Sunday 28th July
15K Long run. With the Rock & Roll 1/2 marathon next weekend this was a mini taper where the long run was concerned. The first half was a hilly route around Stamullen, Bellewstown, Silverstream before finishing off around Gormanston.
So the week overall was a little light on mileage with a recovery day from a race and a day for Golf. Very happy with the quality of the training though. Good to get a second session done as well. This week will probably not have huge mileage either with the race next Monday. Hopefully by then I will have made my mind up on which Marathon to target!!!
Monday 29 July 2013
Monday 22 July 2013
A busy couple of weeks with a 10K PB at the end of it.
The last couple of weeks have been hectic with lots going on so I better try and update now while I have any hope of remembering what training I have done (which has not been a whole lot).
Monday 8th July
19.3K
Avg Pace: 5:33
Avg HR: 131
I think this coincided with the start of the hot weather. Did a couple of my 8K loops with a bit added on. Broke in the new Saucony Guide properly during this run. Legs were a bit tired but I had to get runs out of the way this week when I could.
Tuesday 9th July
This was our usual speed training night. After the usual warm up it was across to the field for a 20 minute tempo run. Although it was warm making it harder than normal this was a disaster for me. What was meant to be 10K pace turned out to be much slower and I finished with an average pace of 4:54 which is around 20 seconds slower than it should have been. I guess you get nights like that where you just feel completely flat. It was then across to the track for 4x200m which were not to be flat out and were completed in 42/43 secs.
Finished off with a nice slow cool down for 9.42K in total.
Wednesday 10th July
Was feeling pretty tired today both in body and mind. Could have done a recovery run but didn't see any benefit at all. Instead headed down to the beach and spent about 20 minutes walking around in the sea to just knee height which was lovely for a change. Had an early night then and set the alarm for 5am.
Thursday 11th July
28.26K
Avg Pace: 5:41
Avg HR: 128??
I knew I was travelling after work for a wedding the next day so it was probably best to do this run before travelling which meant before work. Up at 5am and out the door before 5:30 for this one. The first hour or so was really peaceful with hardly anything on the roads. 6K brought me to the start of my 8K loop which I set out on gradually feeling weary as I came towards the end of it. Even at this hour of the morning it was still quite warm. Took a drink on and set off on the loop again in the opposite direction. The part along the main road was now busy with traffic and I was glad to turn off it. Felt like I was wilting all the time but as it turned out the pace was remaining pretty even. When I got the loop finished I set out on the 6K for home and despite being mainly uphill I felt better along this stretch. I think I just really hate loops and it is also a long time to be out running with no company. Was thrilled to have it done but spent most of the afternoon in work yawning.
Friday 12th July - Monday 15th July
Rest days. Well if you can call them that. Had the wedding of good friends Triona & Eugene and the afters the following day followed by Mumford & Sons on Sunday night in the Phoenix park. Still managed to feel guilty about not running.
Tuesday 16th July
Back into it with another speed session. The focus seems to have switched now to Marathon training and tonight's session was 6x800m @5K pace. These were completed in (3:16, 3:20, 3:21, 3:19, 3:20, 3:20). First one was a bit quick but managed to keep the pace consistent after that hitting most 400's in around 99/100 seconds and maintaining the pace on the second lap. finished up with a slow cool down to bring up to 11.25K for the session.
Gary had a good chat with us as well about the type of training we should be doing for a Marathon and recommended we should be doing a tempo run on Thursday as well as the speed session on Tuesday night. Wednesday should be a rest day with a long run on Sunday. The other days should be filled with easy running.
Looking at how my own training has been going with 10 weeks to go I think I will start to replace the midweek long run with a tempo session which might result in slightly less mileage that day but will get me more used to running for longer at a faster pace.
Thursday 18th July
20K
Avg Pace: 5:25
I was entered for the Fingal 10K on Sunday so while wanting to be fresh enough for that if possible I also needed to get some sort of longish run in this week. Met up with Maurice and did the Balscadden loop at a quick enough pace, did a loop of the college then before meeting up with the rest of the usual crew for the club run. Headed down to the beach to try and escape the worst of the heat. Was tired enough by the finish but no real problems.
Friday 19th - Saturday 20th July
Rest & Golf. Was resting up for the race the weekend which included 9 holes golf on Friday evening. This was my first game since the Captains prize in preperation for a competition on Saturday. Played in the Balbriggan Junior Scratch cup on Saturday shooting 79. Didn't play too well but scored ok and finished tied 7th out of 80 or 90.
Sunday 21st July - Fingal 10K
10K in 45:12
Avg Pace: 4:31
Reports were that this was a fairly flat course and the first 3/4K of the route was fairly familiar to me as most of it ran along the dual carriageway. Although it was a bit cloudy it was still quite warm so didn't do a whole lot regarding a warm up. I had set myself a target of sub 45 with a fallback of getting a PB which meant under 45:26.
Race started pretty much on time and we were off up Swords main st towards the little chef roundabout. This was a slight incline and I was just making sure to get through the first K in around 4:30 i.e. not too fast. Watch beeped at 4:33 which was perfect and we were now out on the Swords dual carriageway. This was gradually downhill for a couple of K so I just tried to maintain the same effort and expected to pick up a bit of time here. The 2nd & 3rd K passed in 4:23 & 4:19 as we passed by Fingallians GAA and breached a slight incline before turning off to the back roads and the first water station. Took on some water and passed the 4k marker in 4:35. A bit of a drop in time but offset by the water stop and slight incline I hoped.
Not sure what happened then but I hit a very bad flat spot where the wheels seemed to come off completely. Felt like I was slowing all the time, and I was. Legs didn't just seem to have anything in them and I seriously considered stopping. I no longer wanted anything to do with the race or running again. The 5th & 6th K were both covered in 4:46. I think I actually started to pick up a little bit towards the end of the 6th K meaning I had been going slower at some point. At this point I think the average pace had slipped outside what was a possible PB and I decided to try and make a long run for home and see what happened. Worst case the wheels would come off completely. Started to feel a bit better then and got a nice hosing from the civil defence to cool off. Managed to piece together a 4:30 & 4:23 for K's 7&8 and we were now almost back in Swords itself. Had by-passed the 2nd water station as there was no point with 2K to go. The only display visible on my watch was the average pace which was now showing 4:32. I knew sub 45 was probably out of range but I had something to try and hold onto. From 8K until 9.5K was slightly uphill or at least it felt it with a couple of nasty inclines. Was trying to pick it up in the last K as best I could and we were greeted with a nice downhill section with about 400m to go. There wasn't too many within reach in front of me but I still managed to pass 2 or 3 people with a sprint for the line. The last 2K were covered in 4:35 & 4:25 for a finish time of 45:12. Mixed emotions with the result. A PB is a PB I suppose and it could have been a lot worse believe me.
So onwards and upwards. Need to get a solid week of training in this week and will give the tempo run a go as well on Thursday. Meant to be doing a 20 miler for the long run but will speak to Gary and see what he thinks as he was suggesting not going over 16 miles as part of Marathon training. Am doing the Rock & Roll 1/2 marathon week after next. Not sure whether I will be racing this or doing it as part of a Marathon pace long run.
Until next time. Happy training everyone.
Monday 8th July
19.3K
Avg Pace: 5:33
Avg HR: 131
I think this coincided with the start of the hot weather. Did a couple of my 8K loops with a bit added on. Broke in the new Saucony Guide properly during this run. Legs were a bit tired but I had to get runs out of the way this week when I could.
Tuesday 9th July
This was our usual speed training night. After the usual warm up it was across to the field for a 20 minute tempo run. Although it was warm making it harder than normal this was a disaster for me. What was meant to be 10K pace turned out to be much slower and I finished with an average pace of 4:54 which is around 20 seconds slower than it should have been. I guess you get nights like that where you just feel completely flat. It was then across to the track for 4x200m which were not to be flat out and were completed in 42/43 secs.
Finished off with a nice slow cool down for 9.42K in total.
Wednesday 10th July
Was feeling pretty tired today both in body and mind. Could have done a recovery run but didn't see any benefit at all. Instead headed down to the beach and spent about 20 minutes walking around in the sea to just knee height which was lovely for a change. Had an early night then and set the alarm for 5am.
Thursday 11th July
28.26K
Avg Pace: 5:41
Avg HR: 128??
I knew I was travelling after work for a wedding the next day so it was probably best to do this run before travelling which meant before work. Up at 5am and out the door before 5:30 for this one. The first hour or so was really peaceful with hardly anything on the roads. 6K brought me to the start of my 8K loop which I set out on gradually feeling weary as I came towards the end of it. Even at this hour of the morning it was still quite warm. Took a drink on and set off on the loop again in the opposite direction. The part along the main road was now busy with traffic and I was glad to turn off it. Felt like I was wilting all the time but as it turned out the pace was remaining pretty even. When I got the loop finished I set out on the 6K for home and despite being mainly uphill I felt better along this stretch. I think I just really hate loops and it is also a long time to be out running with no company. Was thrilled to have it done but spent most of the afternoon in work yawning.
Friday 12th July - Monday 15th July
Rest days. Well if you can call them that. Had the wedding of good friends Triona & Eugene and the afters the following day followed by Mumford & Sons on Sunday night in the Phoenix park. Still managed to feel guilty about not running.
Tuesday 16th July
Back into it with another speed session. The focus seems to have switched now to Marathon training and tonight's session was 6x800m @5K pace. These were completed in (3:16, 3:20, 3:21, 3:19, 3:20, 3:20). First one was a bit quick but managed to keep the pace consistent after that hitting most 400's in around 99/100 seconds and maintaining the pace on the second lap. finished up with a slow cool down to bring up to 11.25K for the session.
Gary had a good chat with us as well about the type of training we should be doing for a Marathon and recommended we should be doing a tempo run on Thursday as well as the speed session on Tuesday night. Wednesday should be a rest day with a long run on Sunday. The other days should be filled with easy running.
Looking at how my own training has been going with 10 weeks to go I think I will start to replace the midweek long run with a tempo session which might result in slightly less mileage that day but will get me more used to running for longer at a faster pace.
Thursday 18th July
20K
Avg Pace: 5:25
I was entered for the Fingal 10K on Sunday so while wanting to be fresh enough for that if possible I also needed to get some sort of longish run in this week. Met up with Maurice and did the Balscadden loop at a quick enough pace, did a loop of the college then before meeting up with the rest of the usual crew for the club run. Headed down to the beach to try and escape the worst of the heat. Was tired enough by the finish but no real problems.
Friday 19th - Saturday 20th July
Rest & Golf. Was resting up for the race the weekend which included 9 holes golf on Friday evening. This was my first game since the Captains prize in preperation for a competition on Saturday. Played in the Balbriggan Junior Scratch cup on Saturday shooting 79. Didn't play too well but scored ok and finished tied 7th out of 80 or 90.
Sunday 21st July - Fingal 10K
10K in 45:12
Avg Pace: 4:31
Reports were that this was a fairly flat course and the first 3/4K of the route was fairly familiar to me as most of it ran along the dual carriageway. Although it was a bit cloudy it was still quite warm so didn't do a whole lot regarding a warm up. I had set myself a target of sub 45 with a fallback of getting a PB which meant under 45:26.
Race started pretty much on time and we were off up Swords main st towards the little chef roundabout. This was a slight incline and I was just making sure to get through the first K in around 4:30 i.e. not too fast. Watch beeped at 4:33 which was perfect and we were now out on the Swords dual carriageway. This was gradually downhill for a couple of K so I just tried to maintain the same effort and expected to pick up a bit of time here. The 2nd & 3rd K passed in 4:23 & 4:19 as we passed by Fingallians GAA and breached a slight incline before turning off to the back roads and the first water station. Took on some water and passed the 4k marker in 4:35. A bit of a drop in time but offset by the water stop and slight incline I hoped.
Not sure what happened then but I hit a very bad flat spot where the wheels seemed to come off completely. Felt like I was slowing all the time, and I was. Legs didn't just seem to have anything in them and I seriously considered stopping. I no longer wanted anything to do with the race or running again. The 5th & 6th K were both covered in 4:46. I think I actually started to pick up a little bit towards the end of the 6th K meaning I had been going slower at some point. At this point I think the average pace had slipped outside what was a possible PB and I decided to try and make a long run for home and see what happened. Worst case the wheels would come off completely. Started to feel a bit better then and got a nice hosing from the civil defence to cool off. Managed to piece together a 4:30 & 4:23 for K's 7&8 and we were now almost back in Swords itself. Had by-passed the 2nd water station as there was no point with 2K to go. The only display visible on my watch was the average pace which was now showing 4:32. I knew sub 45 was probably out of range but I had something to try and hold onto. From 8K until 9.5K was slightly uphill or at least it felt it with a couple of nasty inclines. Was trying to pick it up in the last K as best I could and we were greeted with a nice downhill section with about 400m to go. There wasn't too many within reach in front of me but I still managed to pass 2 or 3 people with a sprint for the line. The last 2K were covered in 4:35 & 4:25 for a finish time of 45:12. Mixed emotions with the result. A PB is a PB I suppose and it could have been a lot worse believe me.
So onwards and upwards. Need to get a solid week of training in this week and will give the tempo run a go as well on Thursday. Meant to be doing a 20 miler for the long run but will speak to Gary and see what he thinks as he was suggesting not going over 16 miles as part of Marathon training. Am doing the Rock & Roll 1/2 marathon week after next. Not sure whether I will be racing this or doing it as part of a Marathon pace long run.
Until next time. Happy training everyone.
Monday 8 July 2013
13 Weeks to Berlin & Captain's Prize winner
This week was to have been a recovery week but there wasn't too much time for recovering or resting as you will see below:
Monday 1st July - Week 6 Day 1
Plan: Rest
Actual: Rest
Had a golf match this evening with Padraig and despite playing ok we got our ass kicked by a couple of guys from Edmondstown one of whom was off scratch and had 7 birdies to beat us on the 16th hole. Not much you can do about that and sadly brought our involvement in the McGinley trophy to an end. This is an inter club competition for winners of the fourball matchplay in a club from the previous year.
Tuesday 2nd July - Week 6 Day 2
Plan: 13K w/10x100m strides
Actual: Club session
Not having run since Friday I was still tired when we turned up for this. Although Golf is not as taxing you are using different muscles so legs were definitely tired as a result. After the warm up I wasn't really looking forward to exerting myself but just got on with it. Session was 2 sets of (800,800,400) w/75 second recovery between each and a 5 minute break between both sets.
Splits were (3:09, 3:08, 1:24, 3:06, 3:07, 1:25)
These were to be run at 3K pace and despite legs feeling tired before, during and after these I seemed to be able to hold a pretty decent effort for me anyway so was happy with that. Gary told me though that I was dropping a few seconds on the 2nd lap of the 800's and should be trying to run them even paced for both laps so will bear that in mind for the future.
Followed up with a slow cool down to bring it up to 11K in total.
Wednesday 3rd July - Week 6 Day 3
Plan: 8K Recovery
Actual: 7.45K
Avg Pace: 5:58
Avg HR: 125
Not much to report from this. Did a couple of slow loops of the ring road in Balbriggan out of reach of the seagulls. Was around 9:45pm starting out but still very warm and humid.
Thursday 4th July - Week 6 Day 4
Plan: 13K General Aerobic
Actual: Rest
Despite not really playing golf anymore as we won the fourball matchplay last year we got automatic entry this year. Padraig has hurt his back the day before so wasn't expecting too much. He played ok though with the sore back and I played pretty well for me and this time we managed to win on the 16th hole to get into the semi-finals. One of out opponents thought I was playing well for my handicap and would do well in the Captain's prize. I questioned his sanity.
Friday 5th July - Week 6 Day 5
Plan: Rest
Actual: 12.03K
Avg Pace: 5:15
Avg HR: 143
Had a bit of free time this evening so headed over to see the new Amphibian King store in Ashtown owned by Kevin English that had only opened up in the past week. I was overdue a new pair of training shoes anyway was killing a couple of birds with one stone. As it was such a lovely evening as well I got changed into my gear to head into the Phoenix park for a run afterwards. Got the usual excellent service from Kevin who checked my gait again in about 5/6 different brands/type of runner. Ended up going with the Saucony Guide as a general training shoe and also picked up a pair of last years Saucony Fastwitch for sessions/races.
Everything was going grand then until Kevin suggested joining me for the run which filled me with fear :-( We headed over to the park from the shop which is less than a K away and ran a lovely route around the trails/grass areas at around my Marathon pace for most of it. Felt fine for most of it but it did get hot towards the end. Thanks again to Kevin for the company and hopefully I didn't hold him back too much.
Saturday 6th July - Week 6 Day 6
Plan: 19K
Actual: 25.32K
Avg Pace: 5:35
Avg HR: 133
Met up with Karen Clarke who I have known since training for my first marathon and is also doing Berlin this year. First time in a long time I had done a long run in the Phoenix Park. Earlier on in the week I had planned on doing 16K of this at Marathon pace but the previous nights efforts had put paid to that idea. Headed out of the park towards the war memorial gardens and up to Chapelizod before getting back to our cars for a drink after around 11K. Even though we were out early it was still very warm and I was glad at not having to increase the effort. We then headed around the trails and out the Castleknock gate eventually coming back in and doing a loop around Farmleigh before making our way back to the cars via the S bends side of the park.
Struggled a bit for the last 3K or so not so much with pace or anything but what I thought was a pain in my back. Looking back I think it was that I had let myself get too dehydrated with the heat and taking on very little fluids. Great to get the run out of the way though before playing the Captain's prize in the afternoon (I have written about that at the end in case anyone has any interest in it).
Sunday 7th July - Week 6 Day 7
Plan: 6K Recovery
Actual: 6K
Avg Pace: 6:18
Avg HR: 123
Slow recovery run around the playing fields of Gormanston. Legs very tired after the previous day and motivation was low but was a good chance to break in the Saucony Guide which felt fine.
So in summary despite everything going on this week I clocked up around 62K, slightly more than was planned but the long run was from the previous week to make up for missing that and not the shorter one as part of this week. This week is a big step up to 80K so need to be careful and also try to fit everything in around Triona & Eugene's wedding on Friday. It will be a challenge but at least there is no Golf this week ;-)
Captain's Prize 2013
So despite playing very little golf this year apart from a few matches I had been scoring ok but didn't really have any consistency to my game to even consider shooting a good score in a strokes competition off the medal tee's so with tired legs I set off with the intention just to enjoy the day and the weather.
For the first 3 holes I was in a bit of trouble on each hole but managed to make 2 pars and a bogey. Played the 4th hole well with a difficult pin which I didn't try to get close to. The 5th hole is the index 1 and is difficult at the best of times. My drive finished on the edge of more tree's but I was luck to have a swing and made a birdie to get me back to level par. This was a very good start as these holes ruin many a scorecard. At this stage I knew I had a chance of doing something but at the same time I was going to have to start playing better probably as well. I played a bad putt from the fringe on the 6th and had to chip out of more trees on the 8th which left me on 2 over par. We had been told when playing the 7th that there was a 67 in apparently which I didn't really want to know but at least I knew where I stood.
The 9th is a par 5 over water which had the wind behind today. After a good drive I took it on in 2 but ran over the back of the green nearly out of bounds. I got up and down for a birdie and missed a good birdie chance on the 10th. The 11th is a tricky driving hole and I got away with a far from pure strike. A good iron shot led to another birdie after tricky putt. Another good putt followed on 12 to save par after being through the green in 2.
So level par with 6 holes to play you could not ask to be in a better position. I knew of the challenges ahead though and was still taking it one shot at a time and that if I avoided any disasters I would be well placed. The par 3 13th hole had a real sucker pin but I only had eyes for the centre of the green. I made horrible contact here and ended up in the water short right of the green. The angle from here to the flag was tough and after dropping out my pitch finished around 15ft away with the putt shaving the hole. Despite this I still remained calm but ran into more tree trouble on the 14th hole not once but twice and again shaved the hole for a bogey. So there is was 4 shots gone just like that.
Walking back to the 15th tee I suppose at that point it helped knowing what the score to match or beat was. It meant I needed to be -1 under to match the score or -2 under to beat it for the last 4 holes and I guess the chances were quite slim with what had gone on before. Again I hit a patchy enough drive on 15 and was left with 180 yards to the flag from the rough. I hit a 4 iron and in the context it was probably my best shot of the day as it came to rest pin high around 25/30 feet away. It was probably the shot that stopped the rot. I had been putting well all day and again hit a good putt that seemed to be tracking and bang it disappeared into the hole. The 16th was another sucker pin off the back tee and I hit 4 iron again very solid past the flag and safely 2 putted for par. I hit a good tee shot up 17 but was probably a club short with my second and finished inside the bunker on the right on the fringe. This left a difficult chip which I managed to get up to around 4 feet and thankfully hole the putt.
On the long walk to the 18th I had a decision to make. This is a tight driving hole and I had not been hitting the ball well off the tee apart from a couple of holes. I knew though to post 66 I probably needed to be able to reach the green in 2. In the end I suppose I knew I had a chance to possibly win the Captain's prize and I had to try and take it myself and not rely on a count back. I composed myself on the tee and probably hit my best drive of the day to the perfect position near the top of the hill. I was just trying to as the Pro's say stay in the moment and not get ahead of myself. I think I had around 235 yards to the flag. I elected to take my rescue club which meant I should be able to reach the green but more importantly I know I couldn't get into trouble over the back of the green. Unfortunately the shot leaked a bit to the right and seemed to bounce right when it landed. When I got up to where it finished al was not well. It was just maybe 6 inches past the last tree but I had a restricted backswing with branches in the way. I was just about pin high but there was a certain amount of hit and hope involved. I was just hoping to scuttle it onto the green which thankfully I did. It actually couldn't have worked out much better finishing around 12ft from the flag. So here we were with a birdie putt on the 18th to finish with a 66. No doubting I was now quite nervous and the putt slid past on the left finishing around 2ft away. I got that out of the way quite quickly without any problems and checked and double checked the card before returning a 75 gross/67 nett.
I had no idea if it would beat the earlier 67 on countback or even if a better score had come in. With the conditions I would have been surprised if a better score had come it to be honest and I knew I had got a few breaks early in the round that helped me. I had an inkling that I had the best score but wasn't sure heading up for the presentation with Emma shortly afterwards. Others seemed sure but I wasn't counting any chickens. Eventually the formalities started and when Liam Kidd was called out as runner up with nett 67 I knew I had won. I was called up to collect my prize of the Captain Paul Cox who also is a friend of mine.
The celebrations started then with some good friends which was great. I tried to take it all in as much as I could and savour the moment. It's not every day you have days like this. When they are completly unexpected it makes them all the sweeter.
Monday 1st July - Week 6 Day 1
Plan: Rest
Actual: Rest
Had a golf match this evening with Padraig and despite playing ok we got our ass kicked by a couple of guys from Edmondstown one of whom was off scratch and had 7 birdies to beat us on the 16th hole. Not much you can do about that and sadly brought our involvement in the McGinley trophy to an end. This is an inter club competition for winners of the fourball matchplay in a club from the previous year.
Tuesday 2nd July - Week 6 Day 2
Plan: 13K w/10x100m strides
Actual: Club session
Not having run since Friday I was still tired when we turned up for this. Although Golf is not as taxing you are using different muscles so legs were definitely tired as a result. After the warm up I wasn't really looking forward to exerting myself but just got on with it. Session was 2 sets of (800,800,400) w/75 second recovery between each and a 5 minute break between both sets.
Splits were (3:09, 3:08, 1:24, 3:06, 3:07, 1:25)
These were to be run at 3K pace and despite legs feeling tired before, during and after these I seemed to be able to hold a pretty decent effort for me anyway so was happy with that. Gary told me though that I was dropping a few seconds on the 2nd lap of the 800's and should be trying to run them even paced for both laps so will bear that in mind for the future.
Followed up with a slow cool down to bring it up to 11K in total.
Wednesday 3rd July - Week 6 Day 3
Plan: 8K Recovery
Actual: 7.45K
Avg Pace: 5:58
Avg HR: 125
Not much to report from this. Did a couple of slow loops of the ring road in Balbriggan out of reach of the seagulls. Was around 9:45pm starting out but still very warm and humid.
Thursday 4th July - Week 6 Day 4
Plan: 13K General Aerobic
Actual: Rest
Despite not really playing golf anymore as we won the fourball matchplay last year we got automatic entry this year. Padraig has hurt his back the day before so wasn't expecting too much. He played ok though with the sore back and I played pretty well for me and this time we managed to win on the 16th hole to get into the semi-finals. One of out opponents thought I was playing well for my handicap and would do well in the Captain's prize. I questioned his sanity.
Friday 5th July - Week 6 Day 5
Plan: Rest
Actual: 12.03K
Avg Pace: 5:15
Avg HR: 143
Had a bit of free time this evening so headed over to see the new Amphibian King store in Ashtown owned by Kevin English that had only opened up in the past week. I was overdue a new pair of training shoes anyway was killing a couple of birds with one stone. As it was such a lovely evening as well I got changed into my gear to head into the Phoenix park for a run afterwards. Got the usual excellent service from Kevin who checked my gait again in about 5/6 different brands/type of runner. Ended up going with the Saucony Guide as a general training shoe and also picked up a pair of last years Saucony Fastwitch for sessions/races.
Everything was going grand then until Kevin suggested joining me for the run which filled me with fear :-( We headed over to the park from the shop which is less than a K away and ran a lovely route around the trails/grass areas at around my Marathon pace for most of it. Felt fine for most of it but it did get hot towards the end. Thanks again to Kevin for the company and hopefully I didn't hold him back too much.
Saturday 6th July - Week 6 Day 6
Plan: 19K
Actual: 25.32K
Avg Pace: 5:35
Avg HR: 133
Met up with Karen Clarke who I have known since training for my first marathon and is also doing Berlin this year. First time in a long time I had done a long run in the Phoenix Park. Earlier on in the week I had planned on doing 16K of this at Marathon pace but the previous nights efforts had put paid to that idea. Headed out of the park towards the war memorial gardens and up to Chapelizod before getting back to our cars for a drink after around 11K. Even though we were out early it was still very warm and I was glad at not having to increase the effort. We then headed around the trails and out the Castleknock gate eventually coming back in and doing a loop around Farmleigh before making our way back to the cars via the S bends side of the park.
Struggled a bit for the last 3K or so not so much with pace or anything but what I thought was a pain in my back. Looking back I think it was that I had let myself get too dehydrated with the heat and taking on very little fluids. Great to get the run out of the way though before playing the Captain's prize in the afternoon (I have written about that at the end in case anyone has any interest in it).
Sunday 7th July - Week 6 Day 7
Plan: 6K Recovery
Actual: 6K
Avg Pace: 6:18
Avg HR: 123
Slow recovery run around the playing fields of Gormanston. Legs very tired after the previous day and motivation was low but was a good chance to break in the Saucony Guide which felt fine.
So in summary despite everything going on this week I clocked up around 62K, slightly more than was planned but the long run was from the previous week to make up for missing that and not the shorter one as part of this week. This week is a big step up to 80K so need to be careful and also try to fit everything in around Triona & Eugene's wedding on Friday. It will be a challenge but at least there is no Golf this week ;-)
Captain's Prize 2013
So despite playing very little golf this year apart from a few matches I had been scoring ok but didn't really have any consistency to my game to even consider shooting a good score in a strokes competition off the medal tee's so with tired legs I set off with the intention just to enjoy the day and the weather.
For the first 3 holes I was in a bit of trouble on each hole but managed to make 2 pars and a bogey. Played the 4th hole well with a difficult pin which I didn't try to get close to. The 5th hole is the index 1 and is difficult at the best of times. My drive finished on the edge of more tree's but I was luck to have a swing and made a birdie to get me back to level par. This was a very good start as these holes ruin many a scorecard. At this stage I knew I had a chance of doing something but at the same time I was going to have to start playing better probably as well. I played a bad putt from the fringe on the 6th and had to chip out of more trees on the 8th which left me on 2 over par. We had been told when playing the 7th that there was a 67 in apparently which I didn't really want to know but at least I knew where I stood.
The 9th is a par 5 over water which had the wind behind today. After a good drive I took it on in 2 but ran over the back of the green nearly out of bounds. I got up and down for a birdie and missed a good birdie chance on the 10th. The 11th is a tricky driving hole and I got away with a far from pure strike. A good iron shot led to another birdie after tricky putt. Another good putt followed on 12 to save par after being through the green in 2.
So level par with 6 holes to play you could not ask to be in a better position. I knew of the challenges ahead though and was still taking it one shot at a time and that if I avoided any disasters I would be well placed. The par 3 13th hole had a real sucker pin but I only had eyes for the centre of the green. I made horrible contact here and ended up in the water short right of the green. The angle from here to the flag was tough and after dropping out my pitch finished around 15ft away with the putt shaving the hole. Despite this I still remained calm but ran into more tree trouble on the 14th hole not once but twice and again shaved the hole for a bogey. So there is was 4 shots gone just like that.
Walking back to the 15th tee I suppose at that point it helped knowing what the score to match or beat was. It meant I needed to be -1 under to match the score or -2 under to beat it for the last 4 holes and I guess the chances were quite slim with what had gone on before. Again I hit a patchy enough drive on 15 and was left with 180 yards to the flag from the rough. I hit a 4 iron and in the context it was probably my best shot of the day as it came to rest pin high around 25/30 feet away. It was probably the shot that stopped the rot. I had been putting well all day and again hit a good putt that seemed to be tracking and bang it disappeared into the hole. The 16th was another sucker pin off the back tee and I hit 4 iron again very solid past the flag and safely 2 putted for par. I hit a good tee shot up 17 but was probably a club short with my second and finished inside the bunker on the right on the fringe. This left a difficult chip which I managed to get up to around 4 feet and thankfully hole the putt.
On the long walk to the 18th I had a decision to make. This is a tight driving hole and I had not been hitting the ball well off the tee apart from a couple of holes. I knew though to post 66 I probably needed to be able to reach the green in 2. In the end I suppose I knew I had a chance to possibly win the Captain's prize and I had to try and take it myself and not rely on a count back. I composed myself on the tee and probably hit my best drive of the day to the perfect position near the top of the hill. I was just trying to as the Pro's say stay in the moment and not get ahead of myself. I think I had around 235 yards to the flag. I elected to take my rescue club which meant I should be able to reach the green but more importantly I know I couldn't get into trouble over the back of the green. Unfortunately the shot leaked a bit to the right and seemed to bounce right when it landed. When I got up to where it finished al was not well. It was just maybe 6 inches past the last tree but I had a restricted backswing with branches in the way. I was just about pin high but there was a certain amount of hit and hope involved. I was just hoping to scuttle it onto the green which thankfully I did. It actually couldn't have worked out much better finishing around 12ft from the flag. So here we were with a birdie putt on the 18th to finish with a 66. No doubting I was now quite nervous and the putt slid past on the left finishing around 2ft away. I got that out of the way quite quickly without any problems and checked and double checked the card before returning a 75 gross/67 nett.
I had no idea if it would beat the earlier 67 on countback or even if a better score had come in. With the conditions I would have been surprised if a better score had come it to be honest and I knew I had got a few breaks early in the round that helped me. I had an inkling that I had the best score but wasn't sure heading up for the presentation with Emma shortly afterwards. Others seemed sure but I wasn't counting any chickens. Eventually the formalities started and when Liam Kidd was called out as runner up with nett 67 I knew I had won. I was called up to collect my prize of the Captain Paul Cox who also is a friend of mine.
The celebrations started then with some good friends which was great. I tried to take it all in as much as I could and savour the moment. It's not every day you have days like this. When they are completly unexpected it makes them all the sweeter.
Wednesday 3 July 2013
14 Weeks to Berlin & not enough days in the week
If ever there was a week where things had the potential to go pear shaped then this was it. A step up again in distance and faced with a tough Marathon Paced long run at the weekend. Time management was going to be a nightmare trying to fit 5 runs in with the below all happening in the same week.
Monday 24th June - Week 5 Day 1
Plan: Rest Day
Actual: Rest Day
Not ideal to take a rest day with the week that's in it but after the weekends running the legs needed time to recover.
Tuesday 25th June - Week 5 Day 2
Plan: 14K w/8K @ Half Marathon Pace
Actual: Club Session
Again went for the Club session in favour of the session in the plan. Went down a little earlier to get a couple of K extra warm up done before joining the rest of the gang for a loop of the college grounds. This was followed by some stretches and drills before a lap of running the bends easy and the straights hard.
The session then was a 10 minute Tempo run @ 5K pace, 1 lap easy, 1x600m @ mile pace, 2 min rec, 2 x 200m. Splits were:
10 min @ 4:15 pace
600M @ 3:33 pace (2:10)
200M @ 3:02 pace (35 secs)
200M @ 2:55 pace (34 secs)
Was happy with how this went. Legs were feeling good with no niggles etc but were fairly whacked after the 200's. Finished off with a nice slow loop to bring up to 12K for the session
Wednesday 19th June - Week 5 Day 3
Plan: 8K Recovery
Actual: Rest
As mentioned above I had to head from work straight to Baltray for the teams practice. Actually got to play which was nice, although my golf wasn't wonderful.
Thursday 20th June - Week 5 Day 4
Plan: 16K General Aerobic
Actual: 16.1K
Avg Pace: 5:28
As I had to be prepared to be in work till 2am I would not start until a bit later today. Dropped Charlie off with his child minder and headed home to get ready. Parked in Gormanston and headed off on the hilly route through Stamullen, St Claire's, and back around to Stamullen via Greenanstown and eventually back to the college to make up the distance. Was a rough enough morning but running in the rain doesn't really bother me. Everything was going fine until around 10K in when I got a dart in my back. I stopped to stretch it out and took it handy for a while and lucky enough it was fine after that. Am enjoying these longer midweek runs.
Friday 21st June - Week 5 Day 5
Plan: Rest
Actual: 9.3K
Avg Pace: 5:39
Avg HR: 130
Emma was away with work for the night but I managed to get my brother to babysit for an hour so I could get out for this run. This was probably a tad too quick for recovery pace but I had to pick it up for the last K to get back home in time.
Saturday 22nd June - Week 5 Day 6
Plan: 8K Recovery
Actual: Rest
Early morning start with getting ready for Golf match and getting Charlie ready when he eventually woke up. Dropped him off with Tracy (thanks again) and headed to Baltray just in time to see the lads heading off. Spent the morning following the matches which we unfortunately lost. The afternoon was taken up with actually playing Golf and qualifying for the Captain's prize. Was pretty wrecked by the time everything finished. finished off the night with a few drinks for a friend of mine heading to Dubai this week.
Sunday 23rd June - Week 5 Day 7
Plan: 26K w/16K @ Marathon Pace
Actual: Rest
I had already decided I was going to try and swap this run with next weeks shorter long run as part of a recovery week. To be honest I was pretty wiped out after everything from the last week and even by the evening when I hoped to run I was falling asleep on the couch so it fell by the wayside.
So a disappointing week overall with only 3 runs and around 37K running and I suppose at the end of the week I did make excuses which is not always good. At the same time we're not robots either and this is a hobby that has to fit in around real life as well.
The next 2 weeks will be difficult as well with other things to fit in this week namely Golf matches that have to be played and a wedding the following week. Aim will be to get as much done as possible and make sure the long runs are done at some stage. Need to start looking at getting more early nights and looking a nutrition so that I'm not feeling as tired.
- Practice for Golf team I'm joint manager of Wed evening
- Potentially working till 2am on Thurs night
- Emma away for deserved night with work from Friday afternoon
- Golf matches potentially Sat/Sun AM/PM for Golf team
- Qualifying for Captains Prize if I wanted to play in it
Monday 24th June - Week 5 Day 1
Plan: Rest Day
Actual: Rest Day
Not ideal to take a rest day with the week that's in it but after the weekends running the legs needed time to recover.
Tuesday 25th June - Week 5 Day 2
Plan: 14K w/8K @ Half Marathon Pace
Actual: Club Session
Again went for the Club session in favour of the session in the plan. Went down a little earlier to get a couple of K extra warm up done before joining the rest of the gang for a loop of the college grounds. This was followed by some stretches and drills before a lap of running the bends easy and the straights hard.
The session then was a 10 minute Tempo run @ 5K pace, 1 lap easy, 1x600m @ mile pace, 2 min rec, 2 x 200m. Splits were:
10 min @ 4:15 pace
600M @ 3:33 pace (2:10)
200M @ 3:02 pace (35 secs)
200M @ 2:55 pace (34 secs)
Was happy with how this went. Legs were feeling good with no niggles etc but were fairly whacked after the 200's. Finished off with a nice slow loop to bring up to 12K for the session
Wednesday 19th June - Week 5 Day 3
Plan: 8K Recovery
Actual: Rest
As mentioned above I had to head from work straight to Baltray for the teams practice. Actually got to play which was nice, although my golf wasn't wonderful.
Thursday 20th June - Week 5 Day 4
Plan: 16K General Aerobic
Actual: 16.1K
Avg Pace: 5:28
As I had to be prepared to be in work till 2am I would not start until a bit later today. Dropped Charlie off with his child minder and headed home to get ready. Parked in Gormanston and headed off on the hilly route through Stamullen, St Claire's, and back around to Stamullen via Greenanstown and eventually back to the college to make up the distance. Was a rough enough morning but running in the rain doesn't really bother me. Everything was going fine until around 10K in when I got a dart in my back. I stopped to stretch it out and took it handy for a while and lucky enough it was fine after that. Am enjoying these longer midweek runs.
Friday 21st June - Week 5 Day 5
Plan: Rest
Actual: 9.3K
Avg Pace: 5:39
Avg HR: 130
Emma was away with work for the night but I managed to get my brother to babysit for an hour so I could get out for this run. This was probably a tad too quick for recovery pace but I had to pick it up for the last K to get back home in time.
Saturday 22nd June - Week 5 Day 6
Plan: 8K Recovery
Actual: Rest
Early morning start with getting ready for Golf match and getting Charlie ready when he eventually woke up. Dropped him off with Tracy (thanks again) and headed to Baltray just in time to see the lads heading off. Spent the morning following the matches which we unfortunately lost. The afternoon was taken up with actually playing Golf and qualifying for the Captain's prize. Was pretty wrecked by the time everything finished. finished off the night with a few drinks for a friend of mine heading to Dubai this week.
Sunday 23rd June - Week 5 Day 7
Plan: 26K w/16K @ Marathon Pace
Actual: Rest
I had already decided I was going to try and swap this run with next weeks shorter long run as part of a recovery week. To be honest I was pretty wiped out after everything from the last week and even by the evening when I hoped to run I was falling asleep on the couch so it fell by the wayside.
So a disappointing week overall with only 3 runs and around 37K running and I suppose at the end of the week I did make excuses which is not always good. At the same time we're not robots either and this is a hobby that has to fit in around real life as well.
The next 2 weeks will be difficult as well with other things to fit in this week namely Golf matches that have to be played and a wedding the following week. Aim will be to get as much done as possible and make sure the long runs are done at some stage. Need to start looking at getting more early nights and looking a nutrition so that I'm not feeling as tired.
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