Training Log Archive: niamh

Event: Djouce Woods
 

Hillwood with Caoimhe.

IMRA Wicklow Glacier Lakes Relay, Leg 1 on CNOC team with Killian, Ruth and Regina. Leg 1 from Glendalough to Lough Ouler and then to the Wicklow Gap. A lovely sunny, clear, cool day - perfect for a run in the hills. It was a strange start to a race... due to our team handicap I headed off by myself at 8:55. Glanced at my watch after about 3 mins and realised that I was doing ~6min/k... hurry up Niamh! Settled into a better pace after realising.
The first few km were reasonably flat and on a paved road. It started to climb more steeply after a few km, where the road gave way to a narrow path/boardwalk. My goal was to keep running as far as the ruins, where St. Kevin's way meets the Wicklow Gap road. I'd arranged to meet Killian there for water - I'd estimated about 30 mins but it only took 23.
The tough part began after the short road section. I had an old map of Brockagh and Mall Hill which covered the initial off-road section through the bog, so I could keep a relatively straight line. Underfoot conditions were boggy, wet and tussocky until I crossed a small stream, where the ground was nice and solid. I dipped into the valley this time and straight up to the saddle (at last years Leinster champs race I contoured... pretty sure that going straight through the valley is quicker - conditions were very different this year though as visibility was perfect). Then a 60m drop over 200m down to the lake (60 mins to here), touch water and climb back up (200m in approx. 5 mins, steep!). It was brilliant fun contouring around Tonlagee to the Wicklow Gap - fairly slippery and the Roclites weren't great for grip in these conditions. I don't think climbing to the top of Tonlagee and descending by the path is a good option.
Average pace on first part - 6:40 min/k. Average pace on hill section - 9:35 min/k.
Handed over to Killian on leg 2 with a big smile. Really enjoyed that run. He had a storming run across to Lough Firrib and Three Lakes before handing over to Ruth at Glenmalure Hostel. She belted off up the hill out of sight and reappeared 70 mins later descending a steep, rocky slope into the leg 4 changeover, route choice prevailing over the zig-zag route. Regina also ran brilliantly on leg 4 from Glenmalure over Mullacor and back to Glendalough, beware Spanish tourists looking at the ground ;-). We were all happy out at the finish. Great day.
Results: https://www.imra.ie/events/report/id/1410/

Warm down. Buzzing. Wanted to go and run leg 2!

Checking out the start of leg 4.

Compass-o on the Curragh. Every second leg with Killian.

MTB on Curragh. Every part of me hurts today.

Set up an interval session on my watch for the first time ever. Worked really well. Mentally I couldn't have dragged myself to the track for 400's, so it was brilliant to do this kind of session on the Curragh. Much more variable than a track workout though - can end up doing 90sec into the wind uphill!

10*90 sec with 60 sec jog recovery (became 30 sec walk/30 sec jog after the 5th one). Distances between 0.31 and 0.40 km. Fun.

Pushed it a bit tonight. Lots of leg stuff. In retrospect, not very wise after intervals this morning. Since I can't really train on Mondays or Tuesdays, the temptation to do lots on Wednesdays is strong.

Curragh with Caoimhe incl. 5*10/10 twice.

Time to get back on the daily core bandwagon.