Smashed It! - Sub 25 by end of September - TICK!

In life, if you want to be successful you have to set goals that are challenging, but achievable. Well, a couple of months ago, when I started to get back into my running after the enforced lay-off, I set myself a goal of getting under 29 minutes for 5K by the end of September. To be fair, this was a soft target, and I quickly revised that down to 28 minutes, and then subsequently set the real challenge of 25 minutes for the Rathfarnham 5K Road Race, which took place this morning.

Training has been picking up nicely, and my weekly Parkruns have seen my time coming down, on what is a really tough course at Waterstown, and I went into this Race with a strong belief I could achieve 25 minutes, but it was still unknown territory. Thanks to Dublin Bus not getting out of bed on a Sunday morning, I had an unusual warm up, by walking the 6 Km to Terenure College, the base for the race. It was a beautiful morning for walking, and for the race, and an hour after leaving home I was at the College and getting armed up for the run. Walked the first Km of the course, before jogging back to the start and having a good stretch. This is a very popular race on the calendar here in Dublin, with over 1100 entrants, and with a reputation as a fast course, some of the top runners in Ireland were out limbering up - and then there was me :).

It was naturally busy at the start, and I had a lot of bobbing and weaving to do in the first kilometre, as ever, but gradually started to get into my stride on the down hill gradient in the first couple of Kms. I checked my watch at the 2Km mark, and it read 9:58, which was just about on target, given the first few hundred metres would have been slower paced. The route starts the long drag up Terenure Road, which although it looks flat, is actually a gradual uphill gradient, and is 30% of the race, but I was going along nicely, and the third Km was completed in 4:54, and at this point I felt confident that I would make it within my target.

Turning back to the road along the Dodder towards the finish, I knew it was downhill to home now, but my legs were beginning to feel the pace. The 4 Km mark came up, with a 4:55 Km, and 19:47 on the watch, and all I had to do was keep going - And I did. Nothing spectacular, just digging in, picking off a couple of runners on teh way in, and finally crossing the line with a 4:52 last Km and a watch/chip time of 24:39.

The stats were: Overall 510/1106; 373 male out of 556; M55 Age Group 18/28 - Age Grade 63.18%

All I can say is, I set myself a goal that was a big challenge, and achieved it. Now the hard work has to start over the winter months to improve on that. With a full year of training, I wonder what I can actually achieve? I do know I have to give a great thanks to Waterstown Parkrun for the difficult course helping me feel very comfortable on the flatter course today. Next target, in the short term, will be to get the Parkrun time under 25 minutes, and increase the training to see me through the Half-marathon at the end of the year. In the meantime I have a 5 Mile Race next Saturday in the Phoenix Park to look forward to!

And the improvement continues!

Another Saturday morning, following a good week of increased training. This week I have run two longer runs of 7.5 Km at around 5:30 pace, and on Friday morning I ran a 1.88 Km speed trail, for want of a description, clocking a 4:37 pace, which set me in good stead for the Parkun on Saturday morning.

I was aware that our Parkrun Director had been looking at the idea of amending the course a little, to try and take the sting out of the "gentle incline" we have faced at the end, and true to her word there was a slightly different start and finish, with the sharp sting taken out, however, it leaves a long steady climb instead, and I have to say, despite my time today, I'm not sure which I prefer. But I rush ahead of myself.

With the downhill start shorter, it was easy to get into the right pace, and I easily got into a rhythm without overdoing it. Given the Half Marathon in the Phoenix Park this morning, there were less faster runners than usual, and the field was a little strung out. I managed to catch and pass two runners after the first kilometre, and wasn't passed by anyone. As this was a new route, I couldn't judge the splits from previous weeks, but felt I was running better, and as the second lap around the river was closing, I knew I didn't have to face the steep climb, instead we had a longer loop of a climb, less steep, but a longer challenge. Took it steady, as I wasn't sure what it would be like, and once I hit the top, kicked on to the finish, a little further away than from the old course, and less jelly in the legs, crossing the line in 25:28. There is a question over the distance being 100% accurate, but it wouldn't be much out, if any, so I'm more than happy with the time, augurs well for next Sunday and the crack at the Rathfarnham 5K.

Steady Improvement - It's coming together...

A couple more weeks into my return to shape, and that 5K Parkrun PHDPB has come down again. I wasn't expecting massive improvements each week, and in a positive way, I don't want to be overdoing things, so the last two runs have seen me drop my time from 27:06 in my last blog post, to 27 minutes dead last week, and this morning I ran a 26:52, a further improvement of 8 seconds.

However, I wasn't happy with my run this morning. My whole ethos of this return was based around steady improvement, slow and sure. Today I went off far too fast, and I was aware of it. The first few hundred meters of the Waterstown Parkrun are downhill, before a brief ascent, and then a long drop to the River Liffey. Each week I have run this course I have taken it steady on the start portion, before consolidating along the flat portion along the river. Today I went off quick - I was feeling good at the start, but by the time I reached the River, I knew I had gone off way too quick, and needed to ease back.

I kept it going, at a slower pace, but was breathing far too heavily, and struggled to keep up my pace, even the slowed down one, and I was kicking myself for having gone off so quick. I was checking the watch, and knew if I could push on up the "incline" at the end, I would be under 27 minutes, and I managed just that. The hill that is strategically placed within 100m of the finish, is a killer, and my legs felt like jelly as I reached the crown, but kicked on, squeezing the last energy in them, and came home eight seconds ahead of that 27 minute mark, but it was tough.

Things are still going in the right direction, and I have entered the Rathfarnham 5K Race on Sunday the 28th, which will be interesting to see how that goes on a different course, without a hill at the end. That 25 minute mark is still a fair distance away, and I need to work harder at my training to improve the stamina as well as the speed.

Thought I'd pop in a little pic from last week to show how I am progressing.