The taper crazy

The countdown is on. It's less than a week until the big day and most of the actual training bit is over. A few short sessions left but nothing I would have considered worth wasting a clothes change on a few weeks ago. Perspective!

It's great to get a bit more free time but to be honest I think I might be losing the plot a bit! Up to this point I didn't have enough leftover energy to get too worked up about anything. Unless I was hungry if course.
In the last few days as I've freshened up I've found myself with renewed energy. Energy for housework, shopping and side errands I had been putting off. Energy for the odd bit of core work. And for better or worse energy for being a big grenade of emotion just waiting to go off. God help my friends, family and soon to be sainted SO...
I've managed to keep the unprompted and unprovoked fits of crying mostly to long stretches of motorway driving but if anyone spots me at a set of traffic lights crying like my heart is breaking...don't worry. I just have too much time and energy on my hands so it had to come out somehow.

Physically the legs are getting some bounce back. Parkrun quite close to my previous pb pace on Saturday felt fairly manageable. Sunday's final chunk of marathon pace miles felt effortless and I'll admit I wished the race was yesterday as I felt strong and ready. I just want to turn up next Saturday feeling as ready as I did after 8 yesterday and I'll be happy.

Life would be boring if I was consistent at everything!

So what can I say? I'm not very good at updating this which is a shame. When I look back at earlier posts it's great to be able to see progress, or on the flip-side it's useful to be able to reflect on a time when things seemed to be going badly as a reminder that things change.

I've managed to fail to document an entire marathon training cycle which is impressive! Taper started yesterday and I'm still in one piece (touch wood) and feeling strong. I'm registered for the first running of the Galway Bay Marathon (previously a half and 10k) on Saturday October 3rd.

Image borrowed with thanks from the event FB page

Should I talk about targets? I'm not particularly superstitious so I'm happy to document my A,B,C and D goals.

• D - Finish!
• C - Small PB (3:45-3:54)
• B - Large PB (3:30-3:45)
• A - Sub 3:30

Key sessions are pointing to being ready for my A goal. Goal marathon pace is 8:01 and I've been there or under for my marathon pace tempo runs. Can I do it for 26.2? Not a clue but I'll give it a go!

Race recap - VHI Womens Mini Marathon

So anyone in the island of Ireland knows that yesterday's weather was a wee bit on the wet and windy side. This made waiting around for this race to start a little bit miserable. Added to this the fact that there was little to no room to warm up in the start area and I was not having the good feels!!

Luckily I met up with L from the club and we had a good old chat to help the time pass.We also arranged a meeting spot for a celebratory drink after....priorities!

We were let off at two on the dot and although I was only about 20 feet from the front I had to start weaving immediately to get around walkers. Why do people do that?? I would hate to be passed and elbowed for an entire race. It has to be bad for your mental health or are they oblivious? Rant mostly over. 

So between that and usual race start congestion routine the first mile was 7:25. I felt great though despite the short warm up and long cold wait. The pace felt super easy. 

The next couple of miles were mostly great with music and spectators and I was really enjoying the course itself. I was feeling the headwind but it was all still really good fun....these were 7.07 and 7:10. 

The halfway point came on the out and back part of the course along the Stillorgan dual carriageway. This was the only bit of the course I genuinely disliked as we got the full force of the wind at the same time as an incline all the way out. The great thing was I got to see the lead ladies coming back and had enough breath to give them a cheer and a "Well done!" 

As I turned and finally got the breeze at my back I looked down to see the last mile had been 7:17. Poo! Enough of that!

I picked the pace up to take advantage of the tailwind and some nice downhill to bring mile 5 in at 6:59 and my only sub 7 mile of the day. I was starting to tire now and I felt as if we turned back into a swirling headwind here. The slight hills were starting to feel like mini marathon mountains. 

Mile 6 was 7:01 and I was desperate for the line now. There was a bit of back and forth going on with a lady in a Drogheda AC singlet (I stared at this one for a while trying to read it as it has a bit of a Turkish sort of flavour to it! See below) and a lady in a purple fundraiser t shirt.

Courtesy of Drogheda District AC Facebook Page - There has to be a story to this one surely?

Anyway so they were really strong and I kept passing and being passed again just when I thought I was safe. Luckily I got a whiff of the finish line and my legs took over, sprinting past like a woman on a mission. I don't know where that comes from but its great when it happens. Doesn't feel like it has anything to do with me though! Finish time 44:42. Not a PB but I'm happy with that in those conditions. I'd love to run another race on that course on a different day. I really really enjoyed it!

Non running stuff

Not sure when I'll publish this. Obviously there is more to a life than running. Although not that much if you run a lot of miles! If you are exceptionally lucky like me then you might meet someone just as cracked as you who is equally as unable to sit down and just as likely to go climb up big hills for fun in the afternoon after a long run in the morning. Only if you are very lucky indeed though...

Wish me luck!

Running the VHI Women's Mini Marathon today. Haven't decided if it's for fun or a pb attempt but the whistling wind outside suggests the former. Maybe there is no wind in Dublin this morning......

First win

So on Sunday I won a 5k! A very small one but I'm savouring it as it may be the only time I'm the first lady across the finish line.

The race is the same family sponsored 5k I came second in last year - Garrafrauns family fun day 5k.

I knew lining up there was a good chance I could win as I've improved a lot in the last year, but I didn't like to count my chickens. There was a slight element of performance anxiety as a lot of my family were there to watch and some cousins were running themselves. I really didn't want to disappoint them!

My warm up was quite long as I feel I've missed out on a lot of longer runs lately due to racing at the weekend. Three miles warm up got me to the start line.

I lined up in the second row behind a row of fit looking guys and had a chat with some old schoolmates while we waited. We set off on time and I must admit the first mile felt very comfortable. This was the fastest part of the course though so my mile split of 6.39 for this mile is to be expected.
Mile two we turned off the gravelly backroad we were on onto a tarmac road and into a head wind. I had forgotten this bit was quite hilly and got a bit worried that I was expending too much energy and wouldn't have anything for the last mile which was all uphill. Oh dear! Anyway I obviously let this get in my head as the next mile was 7:04. So I was obviously slowing but it didn't feel that way as I kept passing people.

The last mile was a painfest as expected. I didn't manage to lift my head to acknowledge family members toward the end.  A glance at my watch with 500 meters to go told me David Rudisha would be hard pushed to covert the last part on time to get in under my pb.
Spoiler alert: I am not David Rudisha (although my son's school principal does talk about him a lot)

I tried to pick it up a bit and sprint for the finish line but don't know how much I sped up. My third mile split was 6:57 and my final time 21:17. I was initially disappointed with the time as I really really wanted something with a 20 at the start of it but that's life. I may have to choose the course wisely for another attempt at this.

It was lovely to win something though and my family were so proud. Great to get the family name on the perpetual shield!

Loughrea Easter 5k Run - 6/04/2015

So where was I? It's taking me forever to get back up to the present with these long gaps between posts. Must do better!

Easter weekend started well with a timed charity mile on the Saturday morning on the track. Good fun but didn't break any land speed records. We jumped in the car straight after and headed West to spend the weekend with my parents to eat too much chocolate and drink too much wine.

Of course I brought my runners so I got in a twelve miler on Easter Sunday a little later than planned due to a raging hangover. This was pure misery but I deserved every bit of the pain. Monday dawned dry, bright and without any plans and I saw there was a 5k being held in Loughrea. The parents were willing to come along and get some lunch after so we decided to head off together and then me and the kiddos could hit the road once the race and lunch were done. Sorted!

We arrived at the location quite early and found the hall for registration and then went out for a warm-up. I had noted on the facebook page that the previously lakeside route had been changed last minute. A brief jog down to the lake explained why.........as soon as I got near the water I was engulfed in a cloud of tiny flies (maybe Mayfly?) They were in my eyes, up my nose, everywhere and that was only after a few seconds! I decided a warm-up away from the lake was a better option.

I lined up at the startline a few minutes before the start and got chatting to a few people there. As I was hoping to get close to a specific time I asked one of the club runners there who I should stick with for that time. They pointed out a girl a few rows ahead and I introduced myself and asked if she would mind if I tried to keep her in sight and she was fine with it. Then we were off! Aaaaand she shot out of the start like a bullet. I tried to stay on her shoulder but looking at my watch it was showing a 6:00 pace and I knew I wasn't close to being able for that. I let her go and concentrated on just being able to still see her at the end!

The first mile was grand. My legs were feeling good, the route brought us through the town twice at first so there was good support and I saw my family which was nice. Mile two brought us out of the town a bit and my legs sort of died a bit here. I could feel every mile of the previous few days running in them and hoped I could hold on without walking. "Don't walk! Your family can see!" went through my head a few times. I concentrated on watching the legs of the girl in front of me and keeping them in my field of vision. And also on passing the guy in full firefighting gear. This should have been a good moment but it was ruined by my stupid brain that kept telling me how slow I was if I was only passing him after 2+ miles of a 5k! Well done Mr firefighter!!

Mile 3 was predictably ick but I was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel (not an actual tunnel as it was a gorgeous sunshiny day but you know what I mean) Also I noticed I could still see club runner girl so I couldn't have slowed down as much as I thought. Or else she had drastically. I'm going to pretend it was the former as it makes both of us look better.

The finishing straight was loooooooong. It's essentially one long straight for the last kilometer and I thought I'd never get to the end. The legs were a bit wobbly at this stage and I was really feeling the unexpected heat. The original club runner girl was out of reach but there was another girl in a local singlet between me and her so I gave it socks and went to overtake her........at which point she slowed right down and sort of drifted into my path so then I had to go around her to avoid running into her and then over the line. I really hope I didn't look like a total spanner overtaking here just before the line but I genuinely thought she was about to pick it up for the finish. Oh well! Anyway I was over the line for a new PB of 21:15. Yay! I thanked the ladies in front of me for dragging me around and went off to collect my all important free participant Easter egg. Priorities!