Training Log Archive: roar

Godawful night's sleep.
Decided to cycle to the hill run today.

Cycled out to the Killiney Hill run. Took the coastal route. There were a lot more serious cyclists on this commuting route than on my usual one so I had some fun cycling with some of those. Nice evening and it managed to not rain even though it seemed like it would so a very enjoyable cycle. The last bit fairly ramped up though it got very steep and I didn't want to kill myself before the race.

Jogging about waiting for my 1st and 2nd legs to finish. At the first spectator point we were in last place. At the end of the first leg we were in a solid last place. It wasn't looking good. At this stage I took some of the sweets for after the race and put them in my pockets as I wasn't sure there would be any left. I had time to do some strides while the second leg held his position... maybe gaining a slight bit.

IMRA GOAL Relay in Killiney

A very short race so I started hard. Also I was in last place on last leg so there was some work to do. There was a small pull at the start and my legs immediately knew about it. Small bit of relief quickly on the downhill to the coffee shop where we turned up into the forest. Then 44m climb in 400m in the forest I pushed hard here knowing it was where I had a chance of gaining on people. Just when I wanted to I saw a guy and kept working to the top. He summited just in front of me and we were marshalled to the downhill. I passed him pretty quickly then. Nice down actually, a bit muddy and slippery and then around to the bay path. Tried to keep the effort high along here but the legs were tightening up a bit and there was some lactic. Once it started to creep uphill the HR did too though. Saw my next target here and caught close to him once we turned onto the narrow steep path to climb to the summit. He had a second wind though and I had a tough time closing the last 5m but then once I got within 4m he broke and I pushed past him. Legs burning then hitting the steps and I saw another lady two flights above me. Some suffering later I caught her just before the top. Legs were not responsive on the flat top path where I passed John Shiels taking photos. Then a nice descent to the finish.

A nice fun social event with lots of snacks and stuff after. Team was happy I took them out of last place. Cycling to it definitely took a little out of me but I was happy with the effort level.

Cycle home again after the race. It was starting to get dark. Went back the N11, which is net downhill but there certainly were some uphills. Some nice sections where I could cycle for a few minutes before reaching traffic lights which really kill your average speed. I could see it dropping on my Garmin. It was surprisingly warm too.