watchmetrain

Liffey Valley AC Club Cross Country

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Last weekend was the club cross country race held in the Phoenix Park on a different course from last year. The committee had decided that it was better to move it to the same course as the multi-terrain race so that it could be made longer for both the men and the women.

The day dawned to rain and wind. This coupled to the rain that we had been having all week meant that the course was very wet with streams running down the gullies. We all went through the usual warm up routines and I decided to keep my gloves on as it was still pretty cold. A few strides into the wind reinforced this belief.

When the gun went off to start it, I moved easily into the lead and pushed on through the first river filled gully and back up the other side. During our warm up, we had done a lap and I had tried to pick a line through all the different sections. Going down here, I stayed right until about two-thirds of the way down where I went over to the left before the sharp left hand bend. This was to be my downfall on lap two. After the sharp left, we headed back up another gully and, staying right again, I moved on nicely before we got to the trees and a muddy slippy downhill. This was the same downhill we do every weekend in training, so I was confident of my footing and flew down it. Through some mud and water, we came next to a sharp right and a short sharp uphill. Then going left, we followed the Kyber Pass. There was a path (muddy and slippy) and a small ridge (drier but more uneven). I took the ridge on every lap and made distance each time. At the top of the Kyber, we went left again around the wood and left on to the Acres to finish out the lap.

I was still leading at the end of lap one. At the bottom of the gully, there was a little lip which I hit with my heel. Because of this my feet went out from under me and I slid the couple of metres to the bottom before recovering. This seemed to give Ciaran some incentive and he pushed me hard on the next uphill, taking the lead for a short time before the Kyber Pass.

Lap three was uneventful before I fell again on the last lap. This was at the bottom of the gully on the way back up. I went down on two hands and a knee and Ciaran saw his chance. I had opened up a small gap but he closed it and we were shoulder to shoulder up the gully. There was some small back and forward before we came up behind Stephen before the sharp right hand turn. I knew that right of Stephen was boggier and that Ciaran wanted to avoid it but I got slightly ahead and stayed as close to Stephen’s left shoulder as I could. This forced Ciaran wide and I got to the turn first. At the top of this, Ciaran made another move and went ahead. At this stage, my lungs were burning, my heart was thumping and my legs were about to give up. I had almost given in and settled for second until Ciaran went down from the ridge into the track. This caused him to lose some of the lead he had and gave me hope. I pushed on again and got ahead.

I was ahead then as we came around on to the Acres. Jimmy and Jonathan were ahead and I went left while Ciaran went right. I heard footsteps in a puddle speeding up so I had to go. I started to sprint (or as close as I could at the end of a hard race). Diarmaid and Paul were at the finish shouting us on, telling us both to run through the line and not to give up. I just made it home in first, two seconds ahead of Ciaran. Michael came in third, after closing some of the distance at the start of the fourth lap.

To top it all off, after scrubbing off the mud in the club, I had to go in to work but then met up with some of the others to watch the rugby and have a few well deserved pints. Great day, great result, lousy rugby.

Leinster Senior XC

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Time to get back into the habit of writing up a short race report after each race.

Last weekend was the Leinster Senior XC in Ballyroan, Co. Laois. We headed down with a team of Darren, Ciaran, Gavin, Paul, Michael and myself. The course looked pretty good when we arrived first, but as we went around for a warm up lap, it became clear that there were some very sticky and wet parts about a third of the way in. Having five laps to do, we were going to see this often and I stopped a couple of times to try and get a line through it. We warmed up with a few strides and then stripped off for the start.

It was a downhill start and myself and Ciaran were well up for the first bit until it started to get sticky. I dropped back a bit and lost a few places but kept ahead of Ciaran. Near the end of the first lap, Darren came through and passed me. I tried to stick with him for a bit but as the second lap went on, I lost more and more distance on him.

On the third lap, there was a lot of cheering for Michael who was coming up behind me. I was determined to keep ahead of him and this pushed me on for a bit and I caught up with a Donore runner who was just up ahead of me. By lap four, I was struggling. Michael and the Donore guy went past me and I thought I was going to lose contact with them. Coming around into the last lap, I was still within touching distance and as we went into the uphill sticky part for the last time, I made a move to try and drop the Donore guy. I pushed on ahead of Michael and he stuck to me until the top of the hill.

Coming into the last 500m or so, I pushed again as we went downhill and around into the uphill by the start. There was about 300m to go now and I was pushing quite hard. I kept up the pressure and made a little bit of time on the guy ahead of me, but not enough.

I finished in 25th place with Michael in 26th and Ciaran another couple of places back in 29th. We ended up finishing as 5th place team, with Darren being the other scorer.

Given the state of the course and how cold it was, I was happy enough with my time of 38:30. Once again I dropped back in the middle section of the course, which was disappointing, but I was able to get back into it near the end. More mental work needed to keep concentration in the middle section of races and I have to make sure that I’m properly hydrated before races too.

Here's a good thought

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Life can’t be too bad when you see deer leaping and bounding beside you on your morning run in to work.
Me

A busy racing period

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve just come to the end of a busy racing period, 4 races in 5 weeks. First off was the Gerry Farnan where I tried a new tack. I started off easier and tried to run my way back into it. I didn’t push hard enough in the middle part of the race and despite having a decent result, I didn’t run to my potential.

After a good talking to by the coach, the next race was the Dublin Senior in Santry. I went out hard and held on quite well and despite being passed by everyone from Rathfarnham in one go, I was happier with the race. I caught one of the Rathfarnham guys and dropped him coming into the last lap. I managed to hold him off and finished strongly.

The next week was the best race of them all. The Leinster Intermediate in Dunboyne. It was a reasonably flat course with a few sticky patches, mainly in the small gap between the two fields we were running in. There were a few really wet bits that just had to be plowed through. I managed to hold on to the group for longer than usual. I passed a few from it and lost a few places too and then I out sprinted another guy in the final straight. Unfortunately I doubled over past the line and up came breakfast! We came 6th team and I finished as second Dublin scorer. The Dublin team came first, with three of us from Liffey Valley scoring for the county.

Yesterday was a repeat of the first race I did for the club. Last year I came into it after trying out spikes for the first time the day before and pulling something in my calf. This year, I was luckier. A couple of small twinges but nothing that would stop me in any way. It started the same way as last year with Roman taking out the race in the first few hundred metres. I tucked in behind in about fifth place and concentrated on keeping there. I stayed in that area for about two laps but then the leaders started to pull away. I hung on to the back of another group but started to lose contact with them over the next couple of laps. On the last lap I lost a couple of places early on but hung on to finish in 16th place.

Dublin Novice Cross Country 2012

Sat, 20 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Last Sunday was the Dublin Novice in the Phoenix Park. 6km of undulating running around the Munich Hills. It was run over 4 laps that were slightly longer than the ones we train on and the ground was surprisingly dry in most parts. There was only one really wet section as we reached the bottom of the hill parallel to the Kyber Pass.

I started off from the front row with Roman beside me but as the gun went I was swamped and ended up getting boxed in a little. I was a bit further back than I wanted to be at the start but i thought I could run my way through.

The first and second laps went well and I was keeping up well with the guys around me. Then I started drifting back. I had no power in my legs to get up the hills and every transition to a flat section left me running on my heels. I knew I should be trying to get up on my toes to keep moving lightly across the ground but I just couldn’t get my body to listen to me.

On the last lap, I got passed by a couple of lads and I was determined I wasn’t going to be dropped by them. I dropped back a little but I did get one of them on the line as he pulled up to finish. :)

I had some confusing moments as there was a guy shouting at a space just behind me on the last two laps. He kept shouting for Simon and I was getting convinced that there was no one there as no one passed me out. After looking at the results, it turns out that there was someone called Simon right behind me for two laps!

I was completely smashed at the end of the race and it took a couple of days before I felt I was ready to run again. I put this down to how hard the race was and also to being sick a week before.

Not much else to say about the race except bring on the Gerry Farnan tomorrow. On the same course. But longer!

Biggest run month ever

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Last month was my biggest run month ever and I wasn’t even trying. I almost made it to 200 miles in old money (my target for the last few Decembers). I ran 25 times and did three races. My longest run was 21.5km but I did get a couple of other 18km runs in there at the start of the month.

The biggest thing for me was consistency. I ran four or five times every week and didn’t miss out on any of the weekday sessions. Keeping up this load is the goal now for this month. I didn’t cycle at all last month but I did play some football which I didn’t log. This month I will be cycling in to work at least once a week. I think it’ll be a good way to recover from any races that we do.

Myles Cullen 10k Club Championships

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Last Sunday was the long awaited 10k club race which doubled as the Myles Cullen memorial handicap race. Myles was a founding member of Liffey Valley AC. The ladies had a similar race over 5k, the George Harrison memorial race. Both of these races were run as blind handicaps which meant that everyone had a chance to win one of the very nice trophies.

We had all signed up a couple of weeks ago and there was some good slagging going back and forth on the last few runs we did as a group. Unfortunately as the day got closer, some of the guys had to pull out due to injuries but there was still a strong group taking part. It’s the longest race I’ve done with the club and there was talk that some of the older members get stronger as the distance goes up which would make it interesting. I still thought that the main competition would be between myself and Ciaran as in most of the races over the year.

The race itself is run over four laps of the 15 acres in the Phoenix Park. This is a wide open windswept plain that seems to be uphill on all four sides when you’re running around it. We started near the magazine fort and my plan was to go out steady and let myself get into the race instead of haring off at the start as I have done before. I didn’t want to get to half way and feel like I needed to stop.

Ciaran took out the pace for the first half lap. He was trying to throw in some surges to break things up early on. This took a lot out of him and he dropped back fairly early leaving me alone with Eddie and Gav. I was getting into my stride as we turned the corner on to the last side. This was the only section where it felt like the wind wasn’t in your face. I managed to open up a gap on this stretch on each lap.

I was feeling well and moving nicely but I didn’t want to start pushing just yet. Eddie was still hanging in there but we had dropped Gav after the first lap, I think. I had a small gap at the end of the first lap but Eddie closed it up and we were level for most of this one. On lap three, I had opened a small gap again on the long finishing straight and kept pushing on into the wind. I was putting some more time into Eddie but then Ciaran was coming back into it as well.

Coming on to the last lap, I was told I had about 50 metres on Eddie in second so I just had to keep pushing and I should be okay. I kept the pace steady on this lap even if the RPE went up slightly. Turning the corner on to the last 800m straight I knew that I had it won and if I pushed hard, I had a chance to get under 35:30. In the end I surprised most people at the finish who were still getting over the finish of the women’s race and I finished in 35:40. Ciaran was 19 seconds behind with Eddie coming in in third place. Gav finished in fourth.

After everyone was finished and had made it back to the clubhouse for showers, we headed over to Ciaran’s school for the presentation and copious amounts of sandwiches, cakes, tea and buns, all made by members of the club. Myles’ and George’s families were there to present the cups as well.

Overall it was a good day and a good race for me personally. I had a plan to run my way into the race while also marking any moves that anyone made. Around the middle I wanted to push on a bit more and then to finish strongly. I wanted to avoid the feeling that I have had around two thirds into some races where I really just want to stop. I avoided that entirely and still managed to pick up the pace for the end. That should hold me in good stead for the upcoming XC races where things will be manic from the start.

Berlin 2012

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

The running club go on a trip away every year. This year it was to Berlin. I’d never been to Berlin before so I was determined I was going to go. There was one small problem though. The Junior Championship. After screwing up against Templeport, we had one last chance in a play off against Arva. The match was set for the Friday evening of the club trip. The rest of the club were going out on Friday morning but I managed to get my flights changed to Saturday morning.

We won the match on Friday to put us into the quarter finals so I was starting off in a great mood. I got to the hotel in Alexander Platz while everyone else was still off at a 10k race on the outskirts of the city. They weren’t going to be back for an hour or more so I decided to head off on a 10k of my own. A sightseeing tour of Berlin at my own pace. I headed away from Alexander Platz towards the Brandenburg Gate.

From there I went through the Tiergarten Park and back again along the other side of the road. On the way back I met up with a parade of motorbikers. They ended their parade at Alexander Platz and they were still there when I got back and had a shower.

I met the others when they got back and we headed off for some food and beers.

I had to have one of the litre steins while some of the other lads decided on lemonade shandies. Myself and Louise ordered some food and picked the first things on the menu. Louise got a sort of macaroni and cheese and I got a boiled sausage with a pretzel.

When everyone was fed and watered, the tourists among us went off on a walking tour of the city ably led by Ger. We went to the Brandenburg Gate, the Jewish memorial and Checkpoint Charlie to name a few places.

Then it was time to go back and get changed for a night on the tiles. We met up in a beer garden before a few of us decided that it was time to get some pizza to hold the hunger pangs at bay. There’s only so much sausage you can eat in one day. We ended the night in a jazz/swing bar which reminded me very much of an Irish wedding. It started with a live band, then some DJ, then more live band and finishing up with all the old rock favourites from the DJ. I made some very sweaty plans with Bren to go for a run in the morning.

Morning came and we went down for breakfast. They were trying t charge €20 each so we went elsewhere. There was a nice café outside that served us coffee, fruit and a pastry. Then it was off for a run. After waking up Bren and waiting for him, we headed towards the Tiergarten again and back along by the river. Overall a nice slow run and some good sights too. We were both parched when we got back and demolished bottles of coke far quicker than we should have.

We met everyone else for coffee and a second breakfast and decided to go off on a bus tour for the afternoon. Bus tours are great, you can see the city without having to walk everywhere (very handy after a late night), if you want to see more of something, you can hop off and back on again later and if you’re not interested in something, it’ll be gone in a minute anyway.

We saw the Parliament buildings and its massive flags.

We got off at half way and went for some coffee and nachos to keep us awake and ran into the end of a bike race that had been taking place around closed streets. Not something you expect to see in a busy city.

On our way back we stopped at the Topography of Terror which charted the rise and fall of the Nazi regime in Germany and Europe. It was unnerving to see photos of the camp guards out enjoying themselves in the hills and mountains while knowing what went on where they worked. It was well worth going to but there was so much information to take in that we had to rush around it a little.

There were some very dodgy looking lads in hats hanging around as well. I wouldn’t trust these lads at all! :)

It was getting close to leaving time and after a quick noodle dinner in the train station we were on the train and heading back to the airport.

It was a very enjoyable short trip but Monday was spent in a little bit of a daze after the flight was delayed and we got home close to 1am.

How to descend on a bike

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Here’s a good article on how to descend and take corners properly. It’s different to how I have been doing it up to now, I was always under the impression that the apex cornering technique was the right way to do it. This guy says that that is all wrong. You should brake hard and early and then turn and finally power out.

I’m keeping it here so that I can read it a few times before trying it out the next time I get out on my bike.

Cornering by Flamme Rouge

Phoenix Park Duathlon - May 30 2012

Thu, 31 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Last night, I raced in the second Phoenix Park duathlon of the year. There was supposed to be a stacked field with the Irish Triathlon champion, the guy who came 12th in Ironman Lanzarote and a host of other fast people out. I only entered on the evening because I had forgotten it was coming up and I really didn’t think I would be all that fast overall. I really only wanted to go out and test my running, hold on on the bike and then see what I could do for the last run.

I got there early to register and there were no queues, picking up numbers in the Runways shop seems to have cut down the queueing hugely. After registering, I got changed and put my bike back together. Then I had to do a lap of the course to make sure that the bike was running okay. It was ticking along nicely and just begged to be ridden faster.

I racked up and started my warm up after one lap. Figuring out where I had racked my bike and how far I had to run in transition is always important and I did a couple of dry runs to make sure I knew where I was going. A bit of a jog and then a few strides and I was ready to go.

The race start is usually pretty fast as we start off downhill and well spread out. Everyone wants to run on the bike track so it’s a hectic start to get your place. I settled into a rhythm and was about 10th going to the first bend. At the second one, I flew past a couple more and I was moving up nicely

I was tracking the two big guns pretty well and we caught up with the early leader on the last straight. He stuck to me like glue and we both got into transition together.

I knew I was going to be slower than everyone else on the bike seeing as I haven’t done any real cycling in months. I expected to be passed by about 15 people over the three laps. I think I was passed by 12 in the end so I wasn’t too far off. I found the cycle easy enough going, it didn’t take too much out of me, but I just couldn’t go any faster. Every time we hit a hill, the guys near me shot off into the distance.

I was asked by two different people how many laps we had to do. I could have been mean and said just one more, but I’m too nice for that! I went into T2 with one of those guys just ahead of me. T2 was busy with some people from wave 2 wandering through and I don’t think they expected to be shouted at to get out of the way by two sweaty men.

Out of T2 and into the forest, this is the extra bit on the run compared to the first leg and usually adds about a minute to the second run time. When I got out of here, I could see that wave 3 had just set off. I had to negotiate my way through the wave and I didn’t have the breath to shout out so it was a bit of a slalom through any gap that opened up. Once clear of this group, I could see some of the guys from my wave. I managed to catch three or four pretty quickly and coming on to the last straight there was only one other guy that I could get to. I caught him and just kept motoring on through. It occured to me that it must be very annoying to be left standing still as someone goes running past you, in the same way I felt when they all went past me on the bike.

Coming up to the finish I was straining to make out what time was on the clock. When I saw it tick over from 38:59 to 39:00, I was over the moon. Finally I was going to break 40 minutes, my goal for the last three years. I finished in 39:16 and in 8th place overall. Given that I haven’t cycled, my 20 minutes for the 12.5km cycle was pretty respectable even if I did lose 3 minutes to the eventual winner. I can console myself that I had the third fastest first run and second fastest second run overall.