Carpe Diem

10 Days Ago

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Hi xxxx (Organiser of Dublin City Marathon Pacers) A long shot here I know. Any chance of me racing Dublin instead of pacing............I have a good chance of getting under three hours based on recent form......................................

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9 Days Ago

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Hi Grellan, it should be ok for you to race, since we have 3 others at 3:30...........................Game On.

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I kept the whole thing low key, not telling anyone so as to keep the pressure off.

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The Short Version

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There were a few surprised clubmates at the start line this morning. Apologies for the deception, especially Killian, who had told me last weekend that he was aiming for 3:30 so he'd be sticking with me. Hope you had a good day without me Killian.

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My plan was a 4 mile cut-in from 7:20 pace to 6:40 - catch the 3 hour pacers before hitting Dolphins Barn (mile 11) and tuck in behind them for the expected headwind out the Crumlin Road to the halfway point and strike on from there - I make it sound so simple. The first 5 miles felt tough (35:06 - clock time) as I felt warm and clammy and my HR was 10 BPM above where it should have been. Seeing the pacer balloons off in the distance and getting no nearer, despite the 6:45 Garmin pace, was mildly irritating.

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I bided my time and managed to increase the pace gradually on the descent out of the Phoenix Park and was more or less on their tail by mile 8. I stuck with them to the halfway point (1:29:42 - my official clock time) but did not forge ahead as I felt i'd do better to keep with them a while longer. At mile 16 I decided to forge ahead as I knew that if I stayed with the pacers my chance of getting under 3 hours would be slim - i'd never keep the 6:50 pace on the drag out Clonskeagh to Fosters Avenue (18.5 to 20.5) and trying to maintain it would kill the last 10k.

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I don't know how far ahead of the pacers I got but could hear the cheers for them not too far behind - it certainly was a risk running in this no-mans-land, where most of those in front of me were slowly been sucked up by the relentless 3 hour pacing hoover. I passed mile 20 in 2:16 (1 minute off target) leaving 44 minutes for the final 10k (7:05 pace). On getting to the top of the last "hill" at mile 20.5 I though I had it in the bag as the pacers had not caught up and it was downhill or flat to the finish - how wrong I was. My Garmin Pace from mile 20 was showing 6:45, passing miles 21, 22 & 23 - still no pacers but by now the encouragement from the spectators was something like "Great running lads, keep ahead of the pacers" - I still didn't look back but kept the head down as advised and now had to work hard to keep the leg turnover.

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A few runners went past at mile 24, but thankfully none with balloons - more like an advance hunting party - I certainly felt like the prey. The 3 hour hoover was bearing down on me - the cheering crowds were deafening - my legs were turning to jelly - the pace that had once come naturally had to be fought for desperately, I hadn't come all this way for a 3:00:20, I can't let it happen.

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The pacers were upon me before mile 25 as we crossed the Grand Canal. I surged to keep with them - down Westland Row, left onto Pearse Street, desperately hanging on - knowing that the longer I stuck with them the better chance I would have of coming in within the 30 second cushion they would leave in their wake between 2:59:29 and 2:59:59. Past Trinity College clinging on for dear life, down Nassau Street, half a mile to go and bang! pacers gone - the effort of the last mile had all but depleted my reserves, - my subconscious mind was floating somewhere above my head in some sort of out of body experience as it had all but failed to convince me to stop and was abandoning ship before the shit hit the fan - and boy did it hit - legs wobbly, staying upright was a struggle and one last desperate message from the conscious mind to the legs to sprint the last 400m was met with a resounding "would you ever go and fuck yourself" before the communication line between head and body went permanently dead. If you ever saw that you-tube video of the battle for 4th female at the 1997 Ironman World Championships you'd get an idea of where my body was over the last 400m (although not quite as bad obviously).

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I still managed to move forward at about 10 minute mile pace in a sea of fog managing to see 2:59:2x on the clock, but not knowing where exactly the finishing line was. It was all captured on National TV as the marathon was being televised this year and the commentator took a particular interest in those managing to scrape under 3 hours, especially the shaky looking ones saying "Congratulations to Greelan McGrath on his sub 3 hour marathon" - lest there be any doubt. (He didn't mispronounce my name - that was the name on my entry -i've been called worse)

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My condition at the finish line got me a free wheelchair ride to the medical tent for a few tests and a bit of rest before going on my merry way - and what a merry way it was.

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The official results give me a finish time of 2:59:19 (chip) and 2:59:29 (Clock) with a Clock half of 1:29:42 - so pretty much even splits (1:29:32/1:29:47) with a slow start, fast middle and a short but dramatically slow finish.

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My pace band for tomorrow

Should be ok for the first half. The forecast wind and rain will make the second half challenging to say the least. The course video is below. Best of luck to all those running and hope to see some of you out there.

Practice Makes Perfect

Subject your body to a particular stress often enough and it adapts, gets used to the stress and accepts it as normal. That's what Abina told me on our 21st wedding anniversary last month when explaining the longevity of our marriage ;) I was wondering where my ability to endure came from. It's a fine line obviously - too much stress and the body will sooner or later blow up and break down, necessitating a long period of recovery before further stress can be applied. I have moved away from the marriage analogy and am not referring to divorce and re-marriage, i'm very happy with the stress I have thank you very much.

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As my speed-endurance is in a good place at the moment because of my body's positive adaptation to the stress I have applied over the last two months, I decided to, more or less repeat, last Saturday's Marathon Pace endurance run to see if it felt less stressful than last week (relativity being the key). The route wasn't much different than last week except that I kept away from the City Quays, swapping it for a loop around the less congested Mardyke/College Road and the walkway from Inchagaggin to the Straight Road.

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I did make a couple of changes though.

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First off I decided to start a bit slower than last week but cut-in over 4 miles - 7:20 - 7:10 - 7:00 - 6:50 and then MP @ 6:40 target.

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Second I swapped my 1000 mile+ €13.50 Lidi runners (Paced Limerick and Dingle in them) for my 1000 mile+ €30 red racers I bought in Decathlon Barcelona last year (served me well in my recent HM & 15 mile PBs - although there's a gaping hole in the side mesh - so what). Would I run better in a pair of DS Racers/Kinvaras/Lunar Racers/Saucony ??/NB ??/ and if so why? That's a totally different post.

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Thirdly I didn't fancy the idea of wearing a running belt to carry water so I didn't and left a bottle outside the front door with a half notion of looping back after 10 or 11 miles - I never did.

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Finally, I left the gels at home too (no water anyway and the only gels I had required water for consumption). I was also following advice from Keith Livingston (thanks Rick for the link) who does not appear to be a fan of gels, in fact he recommends using gels only in the last few miles of a marathon, if you have to! Here's some of what he has to say about the marathon:-

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If you want to go as far and as long as possible without hitting the wall, you must have THREE things going for you:

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1. A trained ability to utilize a blend of (‘unlimited’) fatty acids and (‘limited’) carbohydrates for long periods at high aerobic levels, thereby conserving glycogen (high energy) stores for the business end of your race.

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2. Sufficient hydration of the muscles to allow access to the stored glycogen. Glycogen is really an endless starchy chain of glucose molecules. It needs about twice its volume in accessible H2O to be metabolized. So a marathoner who is ready to race will often be slightly heavier than normal.

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3. The patience to start slightly slower than your intended race pace, so as to spare glycogen and come home full of running. The marathon doesn’t ’start’ till the 20 mile/32km mark, so go steadily till then.

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The traditional “wall” that marathoners hit at around 20 miles represents the final unloading of glycogen stores from the type IIA fatigue-resistant (aerobic) fast twitch fibres as they are sequentially recruited while the slow twitch fibres have exhausted their work capacity.

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I headed out into the wet morning (first wet run in a while) covering the first mile in a relatively slow 7:25 but was soon up to speed. The first 2 MP miles were in 6:29 (downhill) & 6:44 (uphill) - past the point where I took a gel last week - would I last the pace, when will I feel the inevitable fatigue. The miles came and went, maintaining a steady effort which delivered a pace just under 6:40. All thing going well i'd keep the MP going until mile 16. Things did go reasonably well, except that I hit the incline up past the Carrigrohane Post Office after 15.6 miles and had to push the HR to keep close to the 6:40 target until I had 16 miles under the belt - certainly glad to ease back after that, although the remaining four miles were all under 7:20 pace. I was also beginning to feel the early signs of dehydration (to be expected), deferred perhaps by the light rain that fell from time to time.

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20 miles in 1:16:11 (ps correction 2:16:11 - thanks Rick) - my fastest 20 miles to-date, and I only "raced" 16 of them. During the later MP miles my HR was in the low to mid 150's (with the exception of the mile 16 uphill effort), which would appear to be my sub-threshold MP HR.

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While the table below certainly points towards a sub 3-hour marathon it is worth noting that the standard certified marathon course never measures 26.2 miles on the Garmin and an average of 3 seconds per mile should be added to the splits to get a truer reflection of what is required - about 1:30 minutes or 0.2 miles (i.e. pass the Garmin 26.2 mile mark in 2:58:29 or reach 26.42 Garmin miles in 2:59:59 - take your pick)

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For God and Country

Part of being a member of a running club is turning out once in a while to represent the Club at a race - so when the call to arms came to come out and support today's Cork County Novice, Masters and U23 Cross Country Championships in Conna I felt duty bound to sign up. After all I was one of the few club members who didn't take part in the National HM Championships, preferring instead to pace a marathon in Dingle on the same day.

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There was a good turnout on what turned out to be a warm, dry and breezy day. The course was relatively flat with a few mild undulations, token mud section and a few small rough sections at field boundaries to make it interesting - quite enjoyable to race on actually. This, my second ever cross country, is a different type of racing than I'm normally used to. I left the Garmin on the kitchen table, by accident more than anything else, but was glad I did. Cross country is not about pace or mile splits but more position in the field (of runners that is).

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The men's course was 4 laps of 1,500m (6km in all), with my primary aim being not to get lapped. My legs didn't feel too bad during the warmup, given the 20 hard miles I put them through yesterday - my recovery appears to be quite good lately, although I wouldn't want to tempt fate. Perhaps because I didn't come into today with any expectations or specific training I was more relaxed - no pressure.

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Because I didn't know how hard it was going to be my philosophy was to head out at a steady pace for the first lap and see how I feel from there. Because of this I was towards the back of the field over the opening 400m but for the rest of the race kept a reasonably steady even pace, passing runners right up to the finish line. Seeing the herd of runners streaming through the field gaps in front of me during the first lap reminded me more of a cattle drive than a race.........hee-haw.

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There's something about cross country, that I can't quite put my finger on, that makes it different, enjoyable despite the energy sapping effort. You certainly notice your strengths and weaknesses - how you gain on others going up the slightest incline and struggle to keep up on the downhill, digging in with the spikes to take a sharp corner or gain purchase on a slippery bank, trying not to turn over on your ankle when you hit a stone under the surface - great fun ;) Maybe it's the way the inner child likes to run.

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The results put me in 50th place out of 107 runners covering the 4 laps in 24:02 (6:27 pace if the distance is correct) - just getting into the top 50%. Just goes to show how competitive it becomes when the field is limited to club runners - and that is without senior and intermediate club runners who were not eligible to run.

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Looks like the Eagle Novice Team (in which I was the third member) came 6th overall and the M40 Team (in which I was the first member) was 4th overall - just out of the medals. Although, at the track session last Tuesday I did receive my bronze medal for my 100m sprint in the County T&F Championships back in July. The applause from clubmates at the trackside was embarassing - if only they knew I came 3rd out of 3. Still a medal is a medal and it takes pride of place over all the other "finishers" medals I have. The M50 team fared better getting 2nd overall, with Pat Murphy claiming 2nd M55 and Pat Twomey 2nd M60. Well done Pat.

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Practice

As my next race is a marathon, I thought I'd get a long run in this weekend. As I had agreed to join the club for the County Novice & Masters Cross Country in Conna on Sunday my long run would have to be today. To add a bit of a challenge I thought i'd test my form and try out a six mile cut-in to a sub-3 hour Marathon Pace and keep the pace going for a few miles. Not the best idea perhaps as my form would surely be compromised by last Sunday's race and I wouldn't be giving myself the best chance for the cross country tomorrow but!...............nah i've no excuse really.....I just wanted to do this.

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The plan was to cover the first mile in 7:10 and reduce the pace by 5 seconds for subsequent miles until I was running 6:40 for mile 7 and maintain than pace for up to 10 miles!!! Yeah I wasn't thinking too clearly on that one. I headed out shortly after 8 having spend the previous 2 hours watching Ireland being outplayed by Wales in the Rugby World Cup Quarter Final. My route into town via the Model Farm Road along the Quays and out the Straight Road, with a few diversions around Ballincollig was reasonably flat. My fueling consisted of a pre-run coffee, a 200ml bottle of water (didn't want to carry anything heavier) and a few gels in my pocket.

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The first 6 miles went reasonably well, if not slightly ahead of pace, although I had to concentrate on keeping pace on some of the rises on the Model Farm Road. I took the HR monitor to see if the gradual increase in pace would see a more controlled rise in HR - unfortunately halfway into mile 1 the Garmin was already showing 199 and did not come good until the end of mile 3. By the time I hit the start of mile 7 I was on a gentle drop towards Dennehys Cross, which was a more gentle introduction to the first "MP" mile. I took my only gel and a swig of water at this stage. The next few miles went reasonably well despite the dodging in and out of early moring traffic along the City Quays and soon I was heading out of town with 10 miles behind me. I knew I wouldn't keep the pace up for another 6 miles and settled on cutting back after 13.11 - 7.11 miles @ MP. Out the Mardyke and onto the Straight Road @ Mile 11, at this stage looking forward to reaching 13.11, struggling to keep the pace for those last 2 miles.

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On reaching the HM mark I cut the pace back towards 7:30 for the journey home, extending my route to get 20 miles in. With a sniff of the finish I dropped the pace back down to 6:40 for the final mile home. Hope there's something left for running around a farmers field tomorrow.

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Cork to Cobh - A 15 Mile Tempo Run.

Today was the fifth anniversary of the first race I ever ran - Cork to Cobh 2006 (1:58:29), in preparation for my first marathon (Dublin in 3:47:12). Looking back now it does seem strange that my first race should be a 15 miler, you could see where I was headed.

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Since 2006 I have come back every year to run the road from Cork to Cobh and reducing my 15 mile PB in the process.

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• 2007 - 1:42:32
• 2008 - 1:38:56 - PB coming into today - failed attempt at a MP run.
• 2009 - 1:43:15 - MP run for Dublin (3:08:56 current PB)
• 2010 - 1:39:57 - A summer of triathlons and no endurance running.

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Given my form at the Charleville HM 2 weeks ago I knew that, illness or injury permitting, I was on for a PB today - the only unknown being by what margin?

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My primary goal was a PB, all things going well I should get under 1:37:30 (6:30 pace) and if I was on top form I should have a crack off 1:35 (6:20 pace) - McMillan gave me 1:35:11 (1:35:29 for the 13.07 mile Garmin measured HM) after Charleville. I didn't feel on top form getting up this morning (maybe 90%), stopping off in Tesco's en route to the race start for some paracetamol.

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I warmed up with Clubmates John x 2 & Derek. My plan was pretty simple - keep the pace in the 6:20's and if I feel good for a few faster miles i'll know. While I didn't feel 100% I was going to put my faith in my body's ability to churn out steady fast miles - if it didn't last, well at least I gave it my best shot. Derek was aiming for miles in the 6:25 to 6:30 range for his MP attempt at sub 2:50 in Dublin, so I aimed to keep him in sight.

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The day was warm and overcast with a slight easterly breeze. I placed myself a few rows back, and got off to a reasonably unimpeded start covering the first mile in 6:26 followed by a 6:27 - already 13 seconds above the 6:20 average for my "A" target. I wasn't that bothered about it so early in the race but decided to keep a tally of the deficit so as to focus on something. For the first few miles out the Lower Road I was on the shoulder of Derek (not literally).

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Miles 3 & 4 in 6:21 & 6:20 - "14 seconds over - try to keep under 20 seconds for five miles which will keep me on sub 1:36 pace". Derek, sticking to his high 6:20's pace, was behind at this stage.

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I caught up with a group of four or five just after the 4 mile mark approaching the Island Gate and kept the same metronome pace, eventually pulling ahead and coming alongside clubmate Eric, who was targetting 1:35. Mile 5 in 6:19 (13 seconds over). A short while later Eric falls behind and I am on my own. Passing Glounthane Church approaching 6 miles a Guy comes from behind and asks a few spetators how Ireland is doing at the rugby "leading Italy by 26 to 6" is the response - good news all round. The guy looks very comfortable and I assume he will pull ahead. But when I get a cheer from clubmate Laura (supporting boyfreind Paul, the ultra trail legend) he says "so you're Grellan of the running blog - make sure and give me a mention". That's how I met Rory O'Sullivan on the road from Cork to Cobh, good to see you Rory.

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Rory said he had run the Charleville & Cork Half Marathons and so as to gauge how I was doing I asked him what time he got in Charleville. "1:26" he replied. "If you keep this pace, you're going to beat that time today, you look very comfortable". "I dunno, I could blow up yet" was his reply. We ran on in silence towards the 7 mile mark. Miles 6 & 7 in 6:24 & 6:25 (22 seconds over 1:35 pace - need to keep under 30 at halfway to keep on pace for a sub 1:36)

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A gradual rise to the halfway point (3:11 lap => 23 seconds over) I take my one and only gel approaching the mile 8 waterstation as Rory falls behind (Didn't see you at the end Rory so I hope you did well) and I am joined by one of the guys I passed earlier. Mile 8 in 6:23. The guy on my shoulder more or less stayed with me for the rest of the race - good to have company although the only exchange we had over our 7 miles together went something like "It gets hilly towards the end?" to which I replied "a few long drags really, but not that bad".

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The next few miles went a bit faster, aided perhaps by the gel and the drop from Cobh Cross. Miles 9, 10 & 11 in 6:15, 6:18 & 6:19. (17 seconds off 1:35) - "Could I make it back, although the worst is yet to come with the gradual rise, particularly mile 14". We passed 2 runners before mile 10 and shortly afterwards were told by a spectator that we were number 29 and 30. "who'll be number 29 at the end?" I thought. Historically over this section of the race I have found it particularly tough as fatigue sets in and and course throws a few inclines at you just to try and break your rhythm, but today I felt reasonably ok still comfortably hard but no higher gear available. We pass a walker before mile 12 but get overtaken by another guy in a West Waterford AC vest shortly afterwards - still 29th & 30th. My running companion falls behind a few yards every now and then but catches back up, giving me hope that he is nearer the limit than I.

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The undulating road blunts the speed a little taking the pace back into the 6:20s with miles 12 & 13 coming in at 6:27 & 6:22 (26 seconds over). We gradually reel in and overtake a guy in an orange top as the road rises up over the rail line for the slowest mile 14 in 6:37.

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One mile to go, time to push on and sure enough my companion goes out in front by a few yards and while he never gets too far in front the pep is not in my legs or my mind to put in the extra effort needed to catch him. This is the norm for me at this stage in a race - unless I am being chased down over the final 100m, I will rarely put in an "eyeballs out" effort, subconsciously settling for a sub-maximal push in the knowledge that the reward is not worth the effort. Still I push hard over the final quarter mile downhill into Cobh, half out of hope of catching the guy in front and half out of fear of being overtaken - neither happened as I crossed the line in 1:35:32 - 32 seconds over and 6:09 for my last and fastest mile of the day. With that result McMillan gives me a 1:22:50 Half - not too far off Charleville, although today I crossed the HM mark in 1:23:29.

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Another PB in the bag - delighted that I was able to maintain an even pace throughout without any noticeable fade, covering 3 x 5 miles in 31:53/46/53 (2 x 7.5 miles in 47:53/39 - negative split). My calves were a bit tight afterwards but not as tight as after last Tuesdays 4 miles on the track @ 6:11 pace. I think Paul was spot on with his comment on my last post as to the likely reason why 4 miles @ 6:11 pace should feel at least as tough as 13.1 @ 6:18 pace - my lactate threshold is somewhere between 6:11 & 6:20 pace. Rule #1 - Know your LT pace. Funny how 10 seconds per mile can mean the difference between blowing up after 30 minutes and running solidly for 90 minutes and beyond. Beyond? Hmm..........26.2?

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