Sharpening

With Berlin getting close, the time had come to take some action.

First of all, I finally booked flight and accommodation. I'm not entirely sure why I left it so late. Before Irdning I tried to focus on just that race and not even think of anything else but it then took me almost 2 months to look ahead towards Berlin. Anyway, despite being late I managed to snag some reasonably cheap flights and beds.

The other thing is that I'm trying to somewhat sharpen up beforehand. It's a very simple program from MC. Easy / faster / longer, and repeat. The main problems so far are that 1) I run too hard on my easy days and 2) I run too hard on my faster days and 3) I run too far on my long(-ish) days.

I just need to stop trying to be clever. For my easy day this morning I thought it might be a good idea to scout out the trail from the promenade towards Bray Head. I've run up the Eastern slope a few times and wanted to see what's it like from the other side. Well, wouldn't you believe it, the thing is bloody steep, so steep that any notions of "easy" got lost very quickly. Ah well. At least I know what's it like now. And which turn NOT to take, unless you like climbing precariously and end up bushwhacking for a bit.

Yesterday was an interesting route, via the road to Greystones and back on the cliff walk, with a couple of miles on the beach added for supposed fun. The beach section actually wasn't all that much fun, too soft in places and the sidewards slope made my knees hurt, so I'll leave that out in future. And I had estimated this to be about 12 miles and got caught out when it was over 14. As it turns out, 12 would have just about been enough to tire me out and the last 2-3 were a bit of a struggle on tired legs and out of energy.

Ok, I better get that right, and quickly. Easy days easy. Faster days at the prescribed effort. And relax on the long days. And maybe keep the exploring for another time.

15 Aug

4.95 miles, 40:31, 8:11 pace, HR 152

16 Aug

4.95 miles, 38:11, 7:49 pace, HR 156

   3 miles @ 7:22 pce, HR 163

17 Aug

4.8 miles, 38:52, 8:05 pace, HR 151

18 Aug

14.16 miles, 2:12:22, 9:20 pace, HR 148

   beach section & Cliff walk trail

19 Aug

5.75 miles, 1:00:52, 10:35 pace, HR 140

   Bray Head