Missing Ingredient

One thing that has been slightly bugging me since moving here to Dublin is a distinct lack of hills on my running routes. Obviously I can see the mountains right behind my home but the problem is that most of my running here is my commute from and to work and there is no realistic way to incorporate those mountains into that.

However, last weekend was one of the rare ones where I stayed in Dublin, so I was keen to see some new places. Strava is great in that way, I just had a quick peek where others (Gary, Mick, Dom, ...) are running when in the vicinity and quickly came up with a a couple of viable options that would see plenty of verticals.

the scratches to prove it

On Saturday I headed towards King Puck's Castle, which had been taunting me for months because I can actually see it right from my window. Also, coming from Killorglin I just had to head up to a place named like that. Obviously. I got my route slightly wrong, however. First I followed the road until it turned into a dirt road and then I took the trail that seemed to head towards the top, only for it to end right in the middle of nowhere. I decided against turning round so I bushwhacked my way to the top through some gorse, which really was not my favourite part of the run. And, of course, just before I reached the top I came across the trail that I should have taken all along, which would have saved me from bushwhacking and the bleeding scratches that came with it. I'll know better next time.

I went for a longer loop on Sunday, but this time exclusively on the road. The plan was to be out for 15-18 miles, depending on how I felt. I did wonder if it was a good idea to head for the hills twice in a row when I had been confined mostly to relatively flat routes for the last few months, but weekends are two consecutive days after all, that's how it works. I made the mistake of running way too hard at the start when climbing the long winding road towards Kielternan, but didn't quite realise it at the time. The view from the Scalp Road was absolutely stunning, it's amazing to have such a place so close to Dublin. However, after crossing the Wicklow border and going through Enniskerry it gradually dawned on me that I had overcooked myself and I was starting to run on fumes. By the time I went through Bray, about 12 miles in, I'd had more than enough and would have loved to be done but I was still 3 miles from home. I dragged my sorry backside home at increasingly pedestrian pace which made this a 15 mile run, and absolutely no intentions of adding any more.

As nice as the view was, Gary warned me afterwards about running on the Scalp Road, where there is at least one mile without sidewalk and where you might encounter some less than accommodating drivers, so I might have to reconsider future options.

After exhausting myself like that over the weekend I very much expected Monday to be a tough run and wasn't particularly looking forward to it, only to be very pleasantly surprised to have a lovely set of seemingly fresh legs available to me. I took it easy and could have sworn I was running not a second faster per mile than 8-minute pace, but would have been wrong. The same happened again on Tuesday, I could have sworn I was going very slowly, only to be a good bit faster than 8-minute pace. My internal gauge seems to have gotten misaligned. The HR is actually in line with a slightly faster pace but the subjective RPE is a bit off and every step feels easier than I would expect it to.

Not that I'm complaining. I'm starting to experience that flow again when everything just feels effortless and easy. Running through Dublin isn't ideal for that sort of state, every traffic light or road crossing can get me out of The Zone, but I usually manage to get back into it straight away. Nice.

2 Dec

9+ miles, 1:21:29, 8:51 pace, HR 140

   partially off road

3 Dec

15+ miles, 2:01:57, 8:06 pace, HR 141

   rather hilly

4 Dec

9.3 miles, 1:12:33, 7:48 pace, HR 140

5 Dec

9.25 miles, 1:12:10, 7:48 pace, HR 141

6 Dec

am: 9.2 miles, 1:11:39, 7:47 pace, HR 141

pm: 9.3 miles, 1:15:30, 8:07 pace, HR 140