Training Log Archive: Dooby

Muckross

Was thinking of a recovery cycle but as I was outside this morning picking blackberries, i.e. foraging for my lunch, I felt it was a bit too windy and wasn't in the mood to fight the wind. So running it was, and a short one.

Warm this morning but some dampness in the air up towards Mangerton, didn't look nice up high, cloudy. Could see some rain to the west too. But overall a nice run. Did get a bit cooler in the trees.

The lower track pack was a bit muddy in places so that wasn't what I wanted, would've preferred to keep my shoes dry!

Legs felt grand, nothing sore, but reckon if i'd gone for a longer run then tiredness would have materialised. They didn't mind the climb either which turned out to be a lot. Wasn't too worried as reckoned i'd be warmed up enough to get back up the hill.

Tour of Sliabh Luachra 2014

Found out before it started that it was going the reverse route of last year so that meant the hills in the 2nd half. Wasn't sure about that idea as fitness wise I wasn't certain if the legs would be there later on. Not a good start to the day forgetting my armwarmers so put on an extra light tshirt. Worked out ok temperature wise though. Didn't rain and was warm enough. Tough headind from the southwest/west. But avoided that as much as I could.

Started off at the back of the front bunch which really got going after Knocknagree. Pace was lively towards Newmarket but I held on at the back. Wasn't sure if this speed was a good idea but went with it anyway. Some lad in a Kanturk jersey did some stupid attacks, where was he going, nowhere! There was a tough little ramp before Newmarket and I got this right. Lost a few lads here and the pace just got faster. Wasn't too smart coming into Newmarket, trying to take a drink entering a corner so control wasn't good.

Climbing then out of Newmarket and still stuck to the back. Chatted to Conor at the back for a while. He's some man. First back today, dropped the Tralee BC lads in Kilcummin, fair play to him.

Stopped for food in Ballydesmond, so had some nice sandwiches there. After things got going again with a climb to Knocknaboul Cross. Ballydesmond would be higher than Cordal so in theory less climbing. I didn't go anywhere near the front. Just went at my own pace with a few more lads around. After a few of the hills there were around 4 or 5 lads in front of me so tried to catch them on the 2nd last hill but they got away again on the descent. Gained again on the last hill and pushed the descent, got up to 72kph. Kept on pushing with HR probably up to the highest after Cordal into the wind to catch the group of 5. Got them. The lad from Kanturk who was messing earlier I passed on the hilly section, he was pedalling backwards.

Stuck with this group of mainly Killarney lads back towards Scartaglin. 2 lads went on straight for Anablaha so was down to 3. Benny Cassidy was one of them, not in great shape at the moment, he did do the Rás though so was in good company. The hill between the Brown Flesk and Kilcumming was long. Not steep but it went on and on. Some bad roads here too, sign said rough surface but it'd debateable if the road actually had a surface. Dropped the non killarney rider about 2/3rds of the way up. Legs feeling of.

Down the far side and turned for Gneeveguilla. The hills here didn't feel too bad, some short ups and downs. The first one was the longest and as a result hardest.

There were signs now, 20k...15k....10k...5k to go, good to see them. Around Gneeveguilla, or before it, was feeling something at the top of my left thigh. Was concerned about cramping but couldn't do much about it just keep going. Knew that it was all downhill from Gneeveguilla.

Was happy to have finished today as it was 30km longer than i've cycled this year in one go. Average of 31.7kph for the spin, nice. Time was around 3 minutes faster than going the opposite direction last year. But I know Conor was faster than me by at least 5 minutes. Good preparation for the Rebel Tour in 2 weeks.

Couple of laps of the outside, 1 or 2 with Rob Snr and then the last one with Andrew. Did a lap of the track too to check out the finish. Then into the racing shoes and off up to the start. Finish lower than the start:-)

Tried to do a few strides before the race started on the road but was not in the mood for running. That had me really worried. Wasn't looking forward to running in that frame of mind but felt a small bit better once lined up.

An Ríocht 5k Series - Race 1

As planned last night I set the pacer on my watch to 3.20 min/km. And based on the km splits and my race time I achieved that aim. 2nd km was a bit on the slower side but that compensated for the first one as that was downhill. Pleased to have hit the target for the last 2km as there was climb and a headwind. I did increase my effort at this stage.

Wasn't sure what sort of field would be out tonight and as it turned out it was a decent enough one.

Pat Dunworth lead the first 100m or so and then I decided to take the lead. From that point on I was never headed :-)

Arthur tucked in behind me but not on my shoulder. Saved damage to my neck early on and did no checking. Checked the shadows to my left instead and saw 2. The other shadow was Conor Kissane, just did his leaving cert and a serious man on the bike too.

Knew the 2nd km was slow as I took a split. Passed a lad in a wheelchair around this point. Gave some encouragement to a boy running beside him. Was pleased early on that I was on target pace wise yet my HR was below 180. Think that an avg of 178 is good for this. To me it means that I can run faster for this distance.

The 3km marker I only spotted as I had just passed it as it was on a fence perpindicular to the road. Based on the distance on Garmin the race was spot on and so were the markers. That is encouraging.

Could see the Cordal road after the 3km and it was slightly downhill. Think I increased the pace slightly, and then turning onto the main road it was back towards Castleisland and into the wind.

I saw a sign on the road ahead, a few hundred metres and thought it was the 4km marker so felt it was time to pick up the pace. This increase worked as it distanced Arthur. Passed the sign and it wasn't the 4km marker, it was a warning sign for the cycle tomorrow. Will be on tonight's race route after around 45km cycling tomorrow for 2km!

The hill started then before the road comes in from Brosna. Increased the effort here again to push myself very close to the max. This did the trick as the gap increased to maybe 20-40m. From now on I was putting pressure on my neck too to check how far Arthur was back. Hit the top of the hill and tried to keep the momentum going. Wasn't easy. Getting back into civilisation now and then the turn to the left came for the track. Knew once i'd turned it was downhill for a couple of hundred metres.

Halfway down I checked again and knew that the race was mine, Arthur wasn't gaining. Won by 9 seconds. Bit out of breath in the end.

Main thing is no pain either warming up, racing or afterwards. Definitely happy with the legs today. Management needed to keep it that way.

Darren 1639
Arthur 1648
Conor 1652
Tony Harty 1725

So Arthur was pushed more than I was. That's 3 in a row now over Arthur, a streak i'm happy with, but need to keep that going as his shape improves.





3.15
3.25
3.21
3.21
3.15

2 laps of the outside at a very slow pace. Legs felt ok which i'm very happy with. Only did 2 as I wanted some refreshments and my dinner.

Decided to rest today as i'm racing a 5k tomorrow and cycling for a long time on Saturday. Legs and mind could do with the day off. Might have cycled if the weather hadn't been wintery. As it was I was happy to be indoors for a couple of hours instead of being out.

Will target a 16.40 tomorrow running 3.20 min/km.

Muckross

Usual lower loop that i've been running recently but a small bit faster. Didn't feel too bad, maybe a tiny bit of tiredness in the legs but they were feeling good painwise, least pain i've experienced training in a while. Don't usually feel the pain racing.

Purcells weren't going to the track so decided i'd give it a miss too, wasn't motivated enough to do it on my own. They are doing the 5k on Friday so definitely considering it.

Lad running on the road early on as I went along the path by the lake. Somehow I managed to pop out onto the road ahead of him and I took a short pit stop. He stayed on the road as I took the trail around the small hill. Lost time here too as MP3 player popped out of where I was holding it.

After that I passed a few tourists going out towards Torc and then coming back it was quiet. Did run past an old fella jogging too. Saw 3 deer as I descended towards the hotel.

Will make a decision on Friday either tonight or tomorrow as might skip training tomorrow if i'm doing the 5k.

Back from Kerry Athletics Development Squad Meeting. Also got some feedback on Ríocht Training Group.

Excited about both ideas and certainly something i'm going to get involved in. Can only have positive results and will help winter training motivation.

Bring the winter on.

Humid evening, and some drops of rain up high but can't consider that I got wet. Was careful on the descent as I felt the road could be a bit slippy but no issues or even slow cars to hinder my progress tonight.

Really wasn't in the mood this evening, not sure why. Lacked motivation, or maybe it was the humidity could have had a bearing. Didn't help that my legs felt tired starting off, must still be feeling Saturday's long spin.

22 seconds slower on the climb than last Friday. That's actually not bad considering that I wasn't really up for it. Did feel better on the climb than earlier in the cycle so that was helping. Might have had a slight tailwind too going towards Ladies View.

Intervals tomorrow I can't say i'm looking forward to based on how I was feeling this evening. Actually considered taking some days rest this week as I started off this evening but might re-evaluate that when I'm not as unmotivated.

Going to a Kerry Athletics meeting this evening, so we'll see what comes of that and their strategic type ideas for the next 3 years and a Kerry Squad, some coaching would be beneficial to me I reckon. Maybe it's about time I got a coach of some sorts or some serious structure to my training.

Last week in August, where has the Summer gone???

Monday - Running
Tuesday - Cycling
Wednesday - Running (intervals)
Thursday - Cycling
Friday - ???
Saturday - Cycling (Tour of Sliabh Luachra)
Sunday - REST

Got a Kerry Athletics meeting on Tuesday so we'll see how that goes. Ríocht are meeting tonight and one of the items up for discussion is a training group so will see what comes of that, could be worthwhile.

Undecided regarding Friday, there's a 5k in Castleisland, so will decide later in the week whether I want to mess around with that, or not, at the moment it's 60/40 in favour. Can't see a race like that taking too much out of the legs for Saturday, but then again based on the Saturday just gone i'm going to need whatever I have in the legs.

Ouch. Fell at the bottom of the hill and that slowed me down for a few minutes. Was on the ground before I even realised it, grass plus slippy rocks I reckon while turning. No one around to see me, phew. Saw some blood coming down from my knee, looked impressive but wasn't expecting anything too serious. Also some soreness up higher on the side of the leg below the hip but couldn't see anything too serious. On closer inspection i've found there are some nice scrapes there.

Overall was happy with how the run went otherwise. Legs felt mostly good. Ground conditions weren't great, sloppy, so that wasn't good for my new runners. Did get some long grass just before the road home and that cleaned most of the mud off the shoes.

Met a lad running near the top of the hill. Don't usually meet people out running. Did see some lads emerge from the bushes near the top of Torc Waterfall, they seemed glad to have found the road, but they can't have ever been too far from it being between the road and the river.

Damp evening.

Could be sore tomorrow. Knee is a bit stiff and side of thigh isn't great either. Cycle will loosen things out, I hope.