Falling apart at the Seams

On the Bench again

They say bad things come in threes. I don't know who the they are that said this, or how they found out that that was how bad things came,‥but‥last week, they were spot on.
Monday evening while tucking into some popcorn after my run I fractured a rear tooth. Two trips to the dentist where required to fix it. The next day I figured out why they have those straight lines across automatic opening glass doors. They are for old fools like me who insist on walking into the and cracking their nose and eye socket.
These two mishaps did not effect me running more is the pity, Thursday night out for a 16 mile long run when I had to quickly change the course of direction because some fool of a driver thinks they can fly out of their driveway across the footpath without looking. 100 yards later and my right Achilles/calf is giving me bother so I cut the run short. Luckily i was less then a mile from home when it happened so I hobbled home.
So yesterday as I left the dentist limping, black eye and unable to feel my chin from the anesthetic feeling sorry for myself. I wont be able to see my Physio as he was booked till Christmas . At the moment walking is a struggle so at best I will most likely be on the sidelines for a couple of weeks.  

A Night to remember

Anyone who is not to busy over the Christmas pencil in a great night of music in the Templegate hotel in Ennis on the 27th of December. Its a benefit night for that famous Fantasy drummer Frankie Lundy. Frankie has had the misfortune to have Huntington's so all proceeds are going to a very worthy cause.
For more information visit Frankie Lundy Benefit Night
Anyone who wants any tickets can contact me, and I will arrange the same.







December 11th
         13.5 Miles Long Run 1:59:11 @ 8:50 pace, HR 143 

December 15th  
       11 Miles 9 Miles 1:10:42 @ 7:52 pace, HR 159 with 1 Mile WU/WD

December 17th
         8 Miles 6 * 1 Miles @ 7:15 pace, with 1 Mile WU/WD

December 20th
         13 Miles Long Run 1:53:45 @ 8:45 pace, HR 145 (run cut short) 

Puppy Fat

In reverse

Over the last two weeks I noticed that the effort to sustain training paces was on the rise. This I was putting down to the race in Sixmilebridge still been in my legs. Yes there was something in my legs an extra 4 lbs. I stood on the scale at the start of the month only to jump of it in horror and start checking it for damage. It registered 173 lbs. On again with my eyes closed and praying it will be better this time, as we all know it never is. This is not good as trying to maintain ones weight over the festive season is hard enough but having to shed a few pounds is rather daunting.

Racing Weight

A subject I have never really looked at. According to Dr Stillman's guide a long distance male runner of my height averages at 136 lbs. That's a mad figure but his average non active male is 160 lbs really had me baffled. I am a fatty considering the amount of running that I do. Between now and next spring I will aim to get my racing weight down to 156-160 lbs. This should help in getting that Boston Qualification time next year.

Realism

To undertake Marathon training for a 3:20-3:25 marathon it is important to be near that in terms of fitness and speed endurance before starting. Some research suggest that I need to be sub 44 for a 10 Km or sub 1:38 for a half marathon. My aim is Portumna in Mid June so I will run a race in mid January to determine if I am in shape for the training. The upside is that at this point in time I am not that far away. My recent 1:40:47 in Sixmilebridge was in very tough conditions and Friday I ran an 7 Mile Tempo which had a measured 10 Km  in it, which was clocked at 45:45. Times in question are possible but its another matter going out and doing them.

Downtime

Normally I take the month of December off from running to give the body a break as its my busiest time of the year with work and gigging at night. This year however I will train through but work commitments are going to have an effect on the amount and quality of training I get in.


November 30th
         16.8 Miles Long Run 2:30:47 @ 8:58 pace, HR 145 

December 4th  
       11 Miles 9 Miles 1:11:58 @ 7:59 pace, HR 158 with 1 Mile WU/WD

December 7th
         9 Miles 7 Miles 51:45 @ 7:24 pace, HR 163 with 1 Mile WU/WD

Easy and Slow

Recovery and Racing

Took all of last week to recover from my efforts in Sixmilebridge, but on Saturday Morning there was a charity 5K to be ran. Only about 30 showed mostly ladies from various meet and train groups around the area and it looked at one stage that I was odds on for the win until one of the hares from Ennis Track appeared. I had to settle for a gallant second but was made to work for it all the way. Course was a bit long 5.3K but 8 min mile pace was enough to take it. It felt tough so clearly the Sixmilebridge race was still in my legs. I also meet with a pacee from Dingle who thanked me for helping her to the finish under the 2 hour mark.

Baby Steps

Another Evaluation done in perfect conditions on Tuesday Evening. I was a bit worried about this because of how the legs felt on Saturday Morning. Results showed a slight improvement but again after three laps @ 180 I was hyperventilating badly and pulled up. This clearly shows that I will need to do some serious track workouts if I am to get 5K times improved. Its is probably my biggest weakness and I will have to bite the bullet and join a club if I want to improve the fast end of my running. The main target is still sub 3:25 in Portumna next June. So I will continue with another cycle of Long,LT and Steady runs before I go into a more specific plan for the Marathon.

Date	Temp	Weight	140	150	160	170	180
17-Sept-2012	12°	169 lbs	8:43 (0:44)	8:10 (1:00)	7:36 (1:30)	6:56 (2:12)	6:40 (N/A)
27-Nov-2012	6°	170 lbs	8:42 (0:39)	8:06 (0:56)	7:29 (1:15)	6:51 (1:47)	6:37 (N/A)

Looking Back

Red sky at morning, sailor take warning

Got up at 7 AM on Sunday. Had promised a mate I would look at his PC before the race, but the race time was moved forward so this was the reason for my early rise. I ventured outside to a glorious bright morning and a red sky. A perfect day for running I thought to myself, grabbed my running gear, did not bother to bring anything warm as today I would be racing and that would keep me plenty warm enough. It turns out that those ancient sailors where indeed very clever fellows after all.

Loopy Loopers

The annual gathering of crazy runners to honour the spirit of Eddie Murphy happened again this year in Sixmilebridge. One hundred or so lunatics took to the streets of the Bridge in various shapes and sizes and all had different goals from 13 to 52 miles. My  goal was to beat my PB for the half marathon, which while I did achieve this, not by the margin I had in mind. Our sanity or rather lack of it was future enhanced by the fact that no one willingly left the course even with the abnormal Baltic whether conditions that arrived mid morning and gradually worsened as the day progressed.

Racing Again

On arrival @ 11 just before the marathon start the course was already busy with the double marathon and 30 milers. Picked up my chip and number and got changed, it was a this point I began to realize that we where in for a wet and windy race. However on my warm-up lap I suddenly hit me it was going to be damn cold as well. I went to my car and the only warm piece of clothing I had was a old hat belonging to my daughter. As ridiculous as I looked I still did not win the prize for most ridiculous headgear. My race plan to start out @ 7:30 lasted for about 2 miles. After that I managed to hold 1:40 pace up until Mile 9. At this point my arms where frozen solid and I found it extremely hard to push the pace on the downhill section into the wind and rain. From here to the end of the race I managed 7:50-7:55 mile pace at a struggle.

Photo by Jason Fahy

On reflection my lack of recent races cost me the sub 1:40, the whether conditions did not help but I was badly prepared, and had I revised my pace to suit the conditions I might not have fallen apart from mile 10 on. On a positive note I got two new personal bests. An improvement of over four minutes in my Half Marathon time to 1:40:47, and my Ten mile chip split was 1:16:16 which is an improvement of over one minute on my previous best. I survived the race in one piece and with the exception of some muscle soreness have recovered well. So back to base training and I might tackle my 10K PB over Christmas.

The real Hero's

All the volunteers on the day that made it possible for us to participate in this race. Given the conditions there where presented they excelled in every department. Kept traffic under control given the circumstances of Clare GAA, ignoring the fact that there was a race planned and proceeded to arrange the Clare Cup final in Sixmilebridge that afternoon  The conditions for running where horrible but also not to forget the cheering and support for the marshals along the route. Clare Civil Defense did an excellent work on ensuring the health and well being of any runner who required attention. Again top marks to Tom and the B.M.O.H for putting on this event but been able to ensure it was completed successfully  safely and without major incident  given the many hurdles they faced in the lead up to and on the day itself.


November 18th
         13.1 Miles Race 1:40:47 @ 7:41 pace, HR 163 

Looking Forward

Eddies Run

When Tom had let me know that there would be a half marathon in this years Eddie Murphy's Memorial Run   I was extremely happy. It allowed me to run and complete this without getting a DNF in the Full. Last September I penciled this in as a long run where I would just go out and jog around and have a bit of fun. However with Lorraine's illness my training plan got skewed slightly and is such that on the weekend I should be doing a LT Run of 8 miles. So I have now decided to race this and try and take a chunk off my Half Marathon PB of 1:44:52.

What pace to go out at ?

My last attempt at dropping this PB ended in disaster in Charleville Half 2011. Went out too fast (trying to catch a fast pacer ) at 7:30 pace and ended up crawling home for a time of 1:49:12. Currently based on my last 3 hard runs my VDOT according to online calculators gives me a 1:35:00 half marathon time. I always taken these online calculators with a pinch of salt. This is even more true when other factors are considered

• I have no race specific training done.
• My colitis is acting up again which will most likely mean a pit stop at some point.
• That hill that we have to climb 13 times can mentally get you in the end.

With this in mind plan A is to go out at 7:30 pace and see where it gets me. This will leave me in 1:37 country so I am hoping to have a sub 1:40 PB on Sunday Evening barring a complete disaster during the race.


November 11th
         15.57 Miles Long Run 2:15:15 @ 8:42 pace, HR 143 

November 14th
         11 Miles 9 Miles 1:11:04 @ 7:54 pace, HR 155 with 1 Mile WU/WD

Rookie Mistakes and the Runs

Prelude

Arrived home on Friday night after a gig to find Christopher doubled over the big white telephone getting sick. He also informs me he has got the runs as well. Felt sorry for the poor mite and helped him as best I could until there was nothing left to come out and he was so knackered all he wanted to do was sleep.

Still Making Them

Rookie mistakes that is. Saturday was down for my first 8 mile run just below marathon pace effort (155 HR). I have been extending the length of this run for the last month or so and this was to be the longest. Looked out the window from my warm house sun was shining sure no need to put on the ballet tights or compression top it looks like a nice warm day out with no breeze. Eager to get out and run in such a beautiful day I jumped into my shorts and tech top strapped on my watch and chest strap and off I went. Who needs vaseline or nice warm compression gear anyway. As I set about my run  felt a little bit nippy but I'll warm up. Meet two girls one who shouted "Hope we get the wheather you're expecting." Took no notice. Run I have marked for this is an out and back so I  have a gentle tailwind on the out. Everything is going to plan until I get to the turn around. The sunny skyline line has been replaced by a massive Black Cloud of Hail heading straight for me and of course the breeze has also stiffened, also I am getting rather sensitive in between the legs and on my moobs. The return leg was very difficult as one could imagine. It had to be done it hurt and was as tough as hell but when I got home I was delighted I finished it as planned. So I doubt I'll forget the vaseline for a while and bought another set of compression gear it is now winter or did we even get a summer.

The Runs

Sunday recovery run did not happen. I was curled up in a ball all day struck by the same little nastie that Christopher had on Friday Night.  Attempted again on Monday and this lasted about a Mile before my Stomach and Bowel decided to move in two completely different directions. Decided to skip Tuesday as well, so I was nervous about the outcome of today's Seven mile LT pace run. Finished it okay, but the stomach was not great after taking on some water halfway so bottle of water was quickly discarded. I rarely have issues with what/when I can eat before or during events but the last few days have shown me that getting it wrong in a race and you can forget about trying run let alone at race pace. 


October 30th
         13.51 Miles Long Run 1:57:05 @ 8:40 pace, HR 143 

November 3rd
         10 Miles 8 Miles 1:04:14 @ 8:02 pace, HR 156 with 1 Mile WU/WD

November 7th
         9 Miles 7 Miles 53:49 @ 7:41 pace, HR 160 with 1 Mile WU/WD

If life was predictable it would be boring

Tempting Faith

Mid September, herself indoors has a check up in the cancer centre in Limerick Regional Hospital. I am not one for hanging around in waiting rooms so I park the car and have brought my running gear. Plan was a 4 mile tempo run with 1 Mile warm up and warm down. Got back to the car just as herself was coming out of the clinic. As I am changing and towelling down I gaze across to the rear of the Children’s ark to where the Sunshine ward is located I said to herself thankfully we should never see the inside of that place again.

 A month to forget

One day after her 15th Birthday my daughter had a seizure after been fours years free from seizures and about to be taken off her Epilepsy medication. This seizure was different from all the others, which is why on the day I immediately ran the Ambulance. It ended up been some form of Autoimmune Encephalitis and she spent a week in Intensive Care and another two weeks on the Sunshine Ward recovering. Ironically she stayed in the room which is being renovated with funds from the Bridge Milers 10K run this year. Lorraine was released from Hospital last Friday and while not fully 100% she is well on the road to recovery.

We are lucky to have her

Words uttered to me by nurses and consultants alike during Lorraine’s stay. They were referring to Dr O'Mahony who is the paediatric neurologist in Limerick Regional Hospital and I would agree with those sentiments entirely. She is one of the most honest, hard working professional people that I have every had the pleasure to meet.  Also Dr Murphy and her team were excellent especially Johannes who was as elated as I when Lorraine come around in Intensive Care and recognised me. I would like to thank the Nurses in Intensive Care in taking care of Lorraine especially Mairead and Siobhan who dealt with her when she was woken up. They did not have an easy task by any stretch of the imagination. The same is true of Polette and the other nurses who had the difficult task of trying to help her in Accident and Emergency on the night of her Admission.

Lace them up

What I have got from this horrible experience is that it may be raining or freezing or just plain laziness that I might contemplate skipping a run. Not any more "lace them up and run because tomorrow you may not be able to do it" is my new motto.   

What Day is it ??

My running  swimming and gym work have not happened since the day Lorraine got struck down with some mysterious virus. Her condition is no longer critical and her recognition of people and recollection of events prior to last Monday is intact. She is however both confused and delusional since Monday and has no concept of time or reality at the moment. As a result of her current state of health either me or her mother have to be in the Hospital with her at all times. We are taking two day shifts which as one would expect will limit the amount of running I will get to do over the coming weeks.
I did however get two Tempo runs of 7 miles in since last weekend, the pace was slower then previous runs for the same Heart Rate but this is to be expected considering the circumstances and stress of the last 2 weeks. On the upside I have recovered quicker from these runs and found that I was able to hold the pace particularly on the last mile with little or no drift upwards in Heart Rate.

October 14th
         9 Miles 7 Miles 54:42 @ 7:48 pace, HR 161 with 1 Mile WU/WD

October 17th
         9 Miles 7 Miles 56:31 @ 8:04 pace, HR 155 with 1 Mile WU/WD

Why do I run ?

If you asked me that question last week you would have got answer like to get a qualifying time for Boston 2014 sometime next year. Well on Monday evening that and a lot of other plans have been blown out the window. Short story is Lorraine my Daughter had a seizure on Monday at 18:10. After briefly regaining conscious to state that she could not see, she has been unconscious whilst battling an unknown viral infection. As her mam was in hospital until yesterday, I had to deal with all the stuff in Limerick. Short story is we are none the wiser and her condition thankfully has not worsened but has not got better either. I will add that she is been cared for by a wonderful Team of Nurses, Doctors and Consultants in Limerick Regional ICU at the moment and would like to thank all those that have supported us with actions, thoughts and prays over the last week
So today was the first time I got to do a run. Put on my shoes, Hi Vis jacket, light and set out. No planned route or watch to monitor HR/Pace (sick of looking at monitors at this stage), just out my gate turned left and ran.
This run allowed me to get a lot things straight in my head. I would swap in a heartbeat with Lorraine at this moment but that will never happen. Could I have spotted or done something to pick this up earlier ? Probably but that won't change anything now. All I can do is stay positive and be there for her, my wife and son as we face the challenges, high and lows that are ahead of us over the next few hours,days and weeks.

11th Oct 2012 
          About 10.5 miles in a hour and a half or a bit more, at a pace that varied with my mood.

3 in 3

I have not gone mad

No I did not go mad and run three back to back marathons over the weekend. I did however run three events whose accumulated mileage did not even make up to the marathon distance. Friday night was Ennis Tracks Family Twilight Run over 5K in the grounds of Lees Road, followed by the Clare 10K Bra Run for Cancer on Saturday Morning in Ennis and finishing up with pacing duties in Charleville for the Half Marathon.

Running in the dark

My young fella runs twice a year, both times in lees road and both in darkness. Whether its Pieta house Darkness to Light or Ennis tracks Twilight run he is geared up for it. So we are off to lees road for his bi annual race. He wanted to improve on his time but of course he has no training done. He took off  too quick and by the 3K mark he was suffering and I know his time is going to be his worst. He suffered through the last 2K for a 28:05, a sore and not happy camper at all. So hopefully he will do some training or even join a club over the winter.

My moobs are not that big

In my search for a pink bra to wear in the Clare 10K Bra Fun Run on Saturday My daughter had hidden every single one of hers on Friday. There was no way in this world was I going to be wearing one of hers around Ennis on Saturday so I had to resort to wearing one of hers indoors instead. Start was at the west county where it looked like some mad hen party had descended on the hotel. Everyone had attired themselves appropriately soon it was down to St Flannan's to the start and we where sent on our merry way. Used this as a tempo run 2K warn up 8K @ 160-165 HR. Most where walking this or where going to be around the hour mark so for a change I could position myself at the front and not impede any other runners. About 10-12 runners hit off in front of me but I kept to the plan of 2K easy. I picked it up after 2K and started to real in each runner until I got to 7K. At this point I passed Brian Haran who was suffering a bit but was the only person who tried to stay with me after I passed him. He stuck with me until 9K but the hill got the better of him. I spoke with his mam afterwards and he had done a 100 mile charity cycle the week before. He is one tough cookie and one to watch for in the future.

As I was in the top three runners I had a Garda escort at the end of the race or maybe he was contemplating picking me up for indecent exposure.A very enjopyable way to spend a Saturday morning and over €5,500 raised for Breast Cancer Research on the day so well done all.

I'm a celebrity get me out of here

Pacing gig in Charleville on Sunday Morning and as I was gigging the night before I struggled with the early start to get to Sixmilebridge for a rondevu with some of the other pacers. Arrived in plenty of time in Charleville got ready, picked up our black balloons, not very smart a color choice especially when one has to write the time on with a black/blue marker. The boss had made up sheets with our names and time bands to attach to the back of our shirts. I may have needed one but my pacing partner Johnny from North Cork A.C. had no need. You see it seems he is a bit of a celebrity in this neck of the woods. During the start and all throughout the race All I could hear was "how's it going johnny ?".

At the start I realised that I had forgotten to calibrate my foot-pod for the slower pace. So I knew that the pace would show faster on the watch then what we where actually doing. So instead of 9:54 per mile I guessed that this would equate to 9:45 on my watch. My guess was wrong as a result we where down about 15 secs after 2 miles so I recalculated it would need to be 9:37 on the watch. We hit that average pace at Mile 5 and we where bang on every mile marker after this. Charleville is an AIMS accredited race so as expected the Mile markers where dead on and for future reference there was 5K splits as well.
We had a 20-30 in our group up until Mile 8 and from there to Mile 11 this had reduced down to 9. We lost 2 more on the run in, a guy cramped and his mate stayed with him. All the remaining lassies got home under the 2:10. Chip time for the day was 2:09:43 so pretty much done what was asked of us.Anyone considering  this race should do it as its flat and if there is no wind a very good PB course.
The only downside of this race is that the standard of baking and size of the spread afterwards  laid on by the North Cork Ladies will mean you will most likely consume more calories post race then where burnt during the race.

The racing Gods hate me

Will I wont I

That was my dilemma all week. I felt my fitness level have really improved since I have got my mileage back up to 40 mpw region. So I should go for sub 45 on Saturday but the 10K specific runs have been curtailed or pace cut back due to tight Hammer was it worth the risk. Friday put paid to that, Thursday evening Resting HR was 65, early warning sign something was amiss. Friday sore throat when I woke up, after work that evening felt like shit so I do what always works for me. Throw on extra duvets on the bed a large hot whiskey with honey and cloves and stay there for the next 24 hours. Arose Saturday evening feeling a lot better.

What might have been

On Monday I decided to do some sort of a test where I can evaluate my progress over the coming months in the winter. Having read a bit on this over the year I have opted to loosely follow a Hadd type training program. He has a test where the runner runs 2.4K at various heart rates with 90 sec recovery intervals. I adjusted this slightly as it was based on a runner who was capable of 5 min miles. So I reckon that this test requires the runner to at least run 8 minutes at any given effort. This meant I would use a 2K interval instead. For the rest I was going to use another pointer which may be useful, recovery time. So I will record the time it takes for heart rate to return to 120 bpm.
My current stats are as follows. Max Hr is 191 and Resting Hr is 47-54. Based on Hadd my marathon HR/LT Heart rate should be between 170-175 (15-20 bpm below Max HR). Something tells me if I did 26.2 at this effort I would no longer be on this earth. Test will run 2K intervals for 140,150,160,170 & 180 b. After each interval I will record the time it takes for HR to return to 120BPM. Results of my test are below with comments on how the effort felt.

Date	Temp	Weight	140	150	160	170	180
17-Sept-2012	12°	169lbs	8:43 (0:44)	8:10 (1:00)	7:36 (1:30)	6:56 (2:12)	6:40 (N/A)

 This was a bit of a mixed bag.

• I was very happy with my 140 through to 160 paces. Felt like I could hold these quite easily and never felt under any pressure to finish them.
• I have in the past run 10K with 175-180 average but I was very glad to see the end of the 2K @ 170.I do not think I could have held this effort for too much longer. 
• The 180 just did not happen got to the start of the 3rd lap where HR was not above 178 and when I pushed it my running form just fell apart and hammer started to feel tight and I was sucking air in like it was no tomorrow.

Typical plodder that I am can suffer through miles 20 to 26. of a Marathon but ask me to go all out for 2K and I wimp out like a pussy. Looking at the numbers and how I felt I reckon the last 12 months my LT threshold has dropped under 160 so over the winter concentration is on getting this back up to 170 region.

To infinity and beyond

Training going forward will be as follows with 3 Key sessions.

• One long run of 2-2.5 Hours @ 140-150 effort/pace.
• Tempo run of 75 Minutes @ 155 effort 
• LT Run of 60 Minutes @ 160 effort.

Currently I have only got the Tempo and LT runs to 4 miles so over the next 5 cycles I will build them up to the required level. Each session will be separated by 2 easy days of swim/easy running and some aerobic cross training. I may or may not take day 10 as a complete rest day. This has been working well for me so far since end of June and I do need the extra recovery time as I am an old fellow.

Sept 20 
           7 Miles 5 Miles 38:35 7:43 pace , HR 155 with 1 Mile WU/WD 

Linux to the rescue (again)

Recover a broken NAS Drive

So I get to meet these people regularly. Drive/PC full of important stuff like photos videos and whatever but no backup. Last week a guy in a blind panic enters our offices. All the family pictures, videos communion etc on his NAS device and its not working. "I have no backup and the wife is going to kill me if they are lost." Put the drive on the bench dead as a duck, no problem, strip the device once its established it is out of warranty, and remove both drives and place into the workshop PC. On power up one of the drives is clonking or in other words goosed. This is not good, most likely this is a raid device and if its RAID0 someone will be heading for the divorce courts.

My trusty Rescue CD

There are many rescue CD's out there about but my choice is Image For Linux by Terabyte Unlimited. This comes as part of the Image For Windows and is well worth the €49 price tag. It cotains an ISO image which has full network and scripts to do SMB connections as well as all the usual tools from Busybox.
I will outline below how you can mount up a broken/degraded raid system with a rescue or full Linux system.

Use fdisk to determine, the data partition will be the largest one
#fdisk/dev/sda (first sata Drive) use hda if its first IDE
In this case it was sda3

Try and mount the partition
#mkdir /mnt/data
#mount /dev/sda3 /mnt/data
error stating this is part of a Linux raid array

Check the system for raid drives
#mdadm –examine --scan
You should get an output like ARRAY /dev/md1 UUID:<long string of characters>

Then create a configuration file
#mdadm --examine --scan > /etc/mdadm/mdadm.conf

Edit the configuration file
#mcedit /etc/mdadm/mdadm.conf
Add to each line the raid type, number of devices and the actual devices
Example for a raid1
ARRAY /dev/md0 level=raid1 num-devices=2 UUID:<long string of characters> devices=/dev/sda3,missing

Make the raid devices available
#mdadm –A –scan

Check the output of /proc/mdstat
#cat /proc/mdstat
The device should be listed as degraded [U_]

Mount the drive
#mount /dev/md0 /mnt/data

Extract data and save some poor fella from a faith worse then death.

Only wimps use tape backup real men just upload their important stuff on ftp, and let the rest of the world mirror it ;)

7 Day declaration

To Race 

Recovered extremely well from Dingle, that I turned my mind to doing a 3 * 2 mile @ 10K Pace session. Decided to keep the pace as close to 7:15 as possible but easy off if Hammer started to stretch. From the warm up it never felt 100% so was going to abandon ship. Once I upped the pace strangely it seemed to easy up for the first 2 intervals. Only really started to tighten in the last 100/200 m of the second interval. So I went for the third but could not maintain the pace without feeling a tightness in the hammer. Drop the pace but even with the dropped pace it still felt like the toughest of the three. Afterwards I felt okay and was deciding to aim for 45:30 in East Clare 10K in 2 weeks. 

or not to Race

Then I woke up the next morning, right hammer and glutes where as tight as hell. Took 3 days of light running, stretching foam rolling and swim to get any bit of mobility back into them. Even on 8 mile Easy Run on Saturday the still felt tender and sore. Is it really going to be worth the risk of a bad injury just to knock 1 min of a PB ? Also I now have a double gig the evening of the race, so horsing gear and standing for the guts of 6 hours is not what you want post race. I think I will park the sub 45 10K until the spring and just concentrate on building back my strength and mileage over the winter.

Interval	HR	HR%	Time
2 Mile	162	83%	14:31
2 Mile	170	88%	14:34
2 Mile	177	93%	14:38

5 Minute recovery Jog in between.

There is no wall

Post Race

Off to Dingle on Friday to pace the Dingle Half Marathon for the 2 hour slot. After receiving various emails from the Bosses new PA we found out that our accommodation would be in Dingle fairly close to the start line. This however meant an extra half an hours drive for me which meant It would be a very quick shower before returning to Annascual for pre arranged pizzas and pastas. Meet the rest of the crew, grub and banter was good. A couple of quick pints later and it was off to bed for the night.

Race Day

Surprisingly I got a great nights sleep, normally I don't before these races, it might have been the grub, quick pints or the comfy bed but my one lingering doubt is that I fear my room mate may have slipped me some Rohypnol, the conversation the next morning involved my ability to use a certain item of cutlery. Up and dressed, breakfast supplied by our chef was porridge, we also had some very nice homemade brown bread but I steered clear of this for fear of getting struck by a bowel movement somewhere before the finish. We get the race brief from the Boss. Photo shoot and a quick run down to the start to warmup

99 Red Balloons

Yes the pacer's nightmare the dreaded balloons. It's late when we get them and they are all knotted together, takes 5 minutes to untangle. Proceed to attach balloons with pin, now my record is dismissal as regards getting these bloody things across the finish Line. I'm one from four so aim is to get this one home. Starter gun @ 9 and 2 minutes later we are passing under the start line while I try to get my two watches to start on time I feel a thug on my shoulder, damn balloon has snagged on the start and is fluttering away behind no longer attached. I also notice another balloon floating up in the air as well so at least I am not alone. Anyway I am paired with Keith and the plan is to keep up with the 4 hour pacers for the first 6 miles or so, this will give us a bit of time which we will us on the drag from 7 to 9. We did not have a big group to start with but a lot of people seemed to join us after mile 2. The miles ticked along nicely and support was very good along the route considering it's a country race, Local's are out in good numbers. When we got to the first of the drags the wind which was in our face was quite strong. Advised people to tuck in behind us, this section was tough so no doubt anyone who was with us was suffering a bit. I dropped off Keith by about 20 seconds to try and keep people who where dropping off the back to start again. We held the most of the group together and our time was spot on at mile 10. We picked it up again a small bit on the downhill sections as there is a small but killer of a drag at 11. Around this time an ambulance could be heard approaching in the distance, most runners heard except one headphone wearing Muppet who was still on the same side as the approach Ambulance. I managed to alert him of it but he didn't seem too impressed with me giving him a dig to get his attention. Can't understand why people wear headphones in races, they completely miss the whole atmosphere as well as putting themselves in harms way. Meet Ken Beggs who ran a mile with us at this stage and we arrange some after race pints in the Marina Bar. Again I dropped back 20-30 seconds behind Keith to try and encourage as many as possible to stay with the climb and not walk. There was a bigger attrition on this hill but one girl stuck with it only to stop up at the top. As we approached mile 12 we had a few with us which where sent on there way as we where not sure if they had started ahead of us or not. Kept pace to the finish, we picked up Oliver Claire at this point who was doing the Full and had a quick chat about his exploits in Connemara recently. Plenty of people had got second wind coming down the hill towards the finish and passed us out. When we got there we where bang on 1:59:49 so no time for hanging about but straight over the line, the lady who stopped at the top @ mile 11 crossed about 30 seconds after us but I hope she started behind us and got her time. Several thank you's afterwards from runners so we must have been some help to them. Pick up my bag quick stretch meet with other pacers to catch the bus back to Dingle. Must add big fail on my part, sent a bag out to the finish, (beside a pub) without leaving the price of a pint in my pocket.

Ultra Race

While waiting for the bus Keith Whyte came through as graceful and easy as usual. He looked like someone just starting a race and the fact he was after running the guts of 30 odd miles into the wind and up the Conor pass did not show. In the time it took us to get bussed back to Dingle, short walk back to our accommodation, shower and stroll to the finish he passed us again (still looking fresh) to finish with a sub 6 (5:59:25). This was a brilliant performance and I was thrilled for him considering the disappointments he had last year. It's great to see a really nice guy get the just rewards for his efforts. Normally no one remembers second but Ray Lanigan's 2nd was just as equal a run and I am sure his day will come.

Post Race

The post race barbecue was a nice touch as it allows everyone to meet up afterwards and keeps people around to give much needed support as they cross the line after Full/Ultra. We cheered on the remaining pacers as well as a few old friends at the finish. After getting some grub it was of to the Pub for a Pint of the black stuff which was arranged around mile 10 with Ken.
As I was playing for a wedding that night, I had to leave early that evening, boss needed a lift back and I was glad of the company for the journey home. Would love to have stayed on, as no doubt the crack and atmosphere around the town afterwards would have been brilliant. It's a definite race for me sometime in the future, if I get back to doing the marathon distance.

Its getting Better

Improvement but don't know why

I have normally judged my fitness level by heart beats per Km. This is a very rough guide as conditions such as whether, terrain and general well being can make HR readings fluctuate. However when taken over a period of time they can show signs of  improvement or over training. For the last year I have been stuck at a plateau. My general tempo/long runs where showing 825-850 BPK. My last 3 tempo runs @ 8 min pace have shown in the 760 to 780 BPK range while a 10 miler @ 9 min pace averaged 810 BPK
What can I put this down to

• I have lost close to 7 lbs since early June
• Physio clearing up my right Hamstring issue and me been able to keep it that way
• Recent increase in mileage

It could be any of these or maybe all three but I'm not complaining.

Improvement does not translate into speed

Even with the above improvement in general aerobic fitness the legs still are not able to sustain much mileage at 10K or 5K pace. My last 2 * 2 mile repeats and 2 * 1 mile repeats @ 10K pace did not work out. Only got halfway through the second 2 miler when hammer started to complain, so I pulled the plug on the rest of the session. Saturday saw 24 * 200m @ 5K pace come close to completion by getting as far as rep 20 before the plug had to be pulled for the same reason. This does not go well for me having a crack at sub 45 minute 10K in September, but unless I can start to finish these sessions without hammer tweaking its not going to hold up for a race. Attempting to do so would be foolish.

Fixing the hammer

Physio had prescribed one legged squats and a particular lunge to improve strength in my right glute. One legged squat where causing issues with knee stability so had to be dropped, and single leg bridge raises and clams introduced instead. This will make the glute recovery slower thus will confine speed sessions to be of short duration for the time being. He is of the opinion that I will need orthotic support on my right leg, due to an ankle flexibility issue. This comes from a badly sprained ankle many moons ago but I will seek a second opinion on this before going down this route.

Kind of Blue

Kilmurry 10K

As I had missed a planned 5K time trial last week, I decided on Thursday evening after a quick chat with Leon that I would give this a bash. Plan was 5K between the three and eight kilometer marks. Got there about 6 and registration was quiet picked up my number and bumped into the fast postman who was registering ahead of me. He had won Saturday in Kilmihil (repeated the feat here as well) but said he was given a good race by Jake o Regan. Meet with some familiar faces from B.M.O.H who where on pacing duties for the day. Made my way to the start and set of with Paul Conway in the 55 Minute group. At 3K mark said my goodbyes and set off. Plan was to run between 6:45 and 7:00 min miles (as the elevation profile suggested downhill) for the first 2K and just try and hold on after that. Yes their was downhills but there where uphills as well which I was not expecting. Through the first K in 4:15 and feeling every bit of it but  was 9:00 through 2K when the alarm bells went off. I had ran 2 mile intervals 10 days previous in similar conditions at a faster pace. Hit 3K and my average pace was just under 8 min miles. Could see the 50 min balloon ahead but just could not get to them. The last 2K I just want to forget, struggled and at the 7K mark threw in the towel and stopped to walk, just wasnt intreasted in pushing it anymore. After 200m of feeling sorry for myself some guy passed me so I picked up with him and we ran to the finish. We managed to pick up the pace for the finish but I didnt push it too hard as I didnt want to tweak the hamstring when nothing was on the line so I pulled back a small bit towards the end.

 I had stopped the watch at 8K for my 5K time and didn't even bother to look at it until afterwards. Disgusted when I saw 25:18 and the HR readings where well below what I have done for previous 5/10K races. It was a case of me wimping out when the going got tough.  

The usual spread of Sandwiches and cake and all sorts afterwards helped to console my bruised ego. Overall its a well orgainised race on a tough  but run-able course. Its a pity the numbers were small but I will return again next year and try to redeem myself.

Normal Service Resumed

After Friday nights no show I ran a 4 mile tempo run @ 8 min mile pace on a hilly loop with 1 mile warm up and warm down this evening. Felt good and strong throughout. Kept pace up the hills and recovered on the downhill sections. If the planned 2 mile and 1 mile intervals on Thursday and a paced 10 mile run on Sunday go as well I will be very happy indeed, and will confine Friday Night to a one off event that I don't want to repeat.

Needles and Pins

Here we go again

Last year I was plagued by a tight hamstring/glutes on my right side. Go to my PT good rub okay for 4-6 weeks rinse and repeat, until it advanced to a point that I needed injections in the hip. So once I got a little twinge in the same area of the Hamstring after a recent 10K paced mile intervals I decided it was time for a physio to have a look at me on my next step back week. Deciding on what physio to use can be a nightmare but I eventually plumbed for Leon of physiozone, if he can keep Keith White on the road then he must be doing something right.

First Visit

After standing on one leg and doing various squats and giving my history it was time for the exam on the couch. "Have you ever had the needles", never had it done so no was my answer No. Anyway fifteen minutes on my hamstring and another fifteen on glute, I now had a new pain experience. For those who never had it done the needles don't hurt much but when the muscle goes into spasm you'll know about. In saying that it does what it says on the tin, after two days of rest and stretching I had close to full range of motion on both muscles.

Second Visit

Had a follow visit to get adductor/hip flexors loosed out. Now I have gone through pain in marathons and the needle session three days before but the work required to relax this area nearly had me in tears. Manned up and got through but afterwards I was really sore. Upshot of all this is that my right glutes are not triggering correctly, combine this with tight hip flexors my hammer is doing all the work. Corrective exercises have been prescribed and keep running to light workouts with follow up next week.

On the road again

Goal Setting

So while on holidays in the Algarve, I set a new goal well it's really an old one, get a Boston Marathon Qualifying Time. For my age group that has now become 3:24:59 a good 20 minutes inside my best. To  get anywhere near this a few things will have to fall into place.

1. Get back running 40 to 50 mpw injury free
2. Loss about 14lbs (current weight 176lbs)
3. Get my 5K and 10K times to (20:30 and 43:30)
4. Get my LT threshold to between 170-175 bpm

If I get 1 and 2 sorted by the end of the year I will be very happy and the rest should start to fall into place in the early part of 2013.

Plan of Action

Having had a lot of time recently to ponder, just because there are seven days in a week does not mean that the training cycle is seven days long. I read some interesting articles on this very topic in the sunshine of Portugal, I have come to the conclusion when one considers age and recent spate of injuries, my body just cant handle three quality session in a seven day period. Plan going forward will be three quality sessions over a ten day cycle.
Format will be something like this Long-Recovery-XT-Tempo-Recovery-XT-Interval-Recovery-XT-Rest. Each phase will have three such cycles and then a week down of easy runs and physio if required. Mileage will begin at approx 25 mpw and go to 35mpw, with gradual increase in training paces until they reach my current PB levels. If at any point I feel a niggle a recovery week will be dropped in with physio or whatever is required to clear the symptoms.

And were off

So I set about the desired training plan in the last week in June on my return from Portugal. Aiming for a bash at a sub 45Min 10K in September/October. All went well for the first 3 cycles (30 days). Have got my paces up to PB level for 5/10K and my aerobic levels are very similar to that of last year. Weight has probably helped here as I dropped 4lbs (172lbs) since starting training, which is now at its lowest since Athens in Nov 2010.
The last week in July was step back week and with some tightness in my hamstrings and glutes, I went for my first session with physio expecting a quick rub and to be on my way again (more to follow on this). Short version I needed more work then I thought which means no hard sessions for 10 days. As a result I will miss a planned 10K in race Kilmihil  this Saturday where I was hoping to race 5K between the 3K mark and the 8K mark to get an idea my 5K race pace. There is a 5K/10K Kilmurry on next Friday week but I am working on the same evening so it may be tight on time. I will decide on that later next week. I am down to pace the two hour band for the Dingle Half Marathon in a months time so Phase 2 will concentrate more on Tempo and Longer runs and upping of the mileage to 30 mpw while staying free from injury. All going well I am looking forward to been at the start line for this.

Becoming a runner Part II

Write off 2011

After a very enjoyable experience in Athens I and her good self returned to Ireland in great spirits. I was already planning my assault on Boston for 2012 which herself thought would be great as some old school friends of hers live there.

Well so much for planning, Life (I really should know this by now) has a nasty habit letting you know it’s not easy just when you think it could not get better. We had both forgot about the routine mama-gram herself had done before we went to Athens, well on a Thursday in November life decided to throw us a curve ball and herself now had breast cancer. Surgeon is not one to mince her words and outlined that the next step was a full mastectomy. Neither of us knowing what end of us was up at this stage where brought into a quiet room where an very nice nurse basically told us whatever you have planned for 2011 write it off. With hindsight I really should have listened to this advice.

Doing to much

So I upped my mileage in an effort to get my marathon time down to the required Boston Qualifier Time. For the first 4 months everything was going as well as expected but the added stress in my personal life with the increase in mileage was going to catch up with me. From May on after setting personal bests for 10K and 10 Miles the niggles (overuse injuries) started to happen. Glutes, back and hamstrings all at different times left me missing training days. So much so that I missed both of my planned attempts at sub 3:30 in Portuma and Longford. In between I ran day 2 of the 5 in 5 in Sixmilebridge as a training/test run to see where I was at. Set a PB but the plan of 20 miles @ 3:30 pace did not materialise. It was after this that I knew I was not in 3:30 shape and was not going to get there under the current circumstances. I concentrated in keeping my long slow runs in the legs with no fast stuff. Paced 5 hour in Dublin great day felt great. Ran 3rd Marathon of the year, mile loops of the bridge. Took the rest of the year off and at the turn of the year felt good again.

Happy New Year

Well was I glad to see the back of 2011. Looking forward herself was finished treatment had got the all clear and on the mend. So was I or so it appeared. After 2 weeks into the New Year and on very little mileage (15 miles a week) I could barely drive with the pain in the butt/lower back, so I bite the bullet and decided go see the doc first. Full blood work revealed Vitamin D was on the floor. Refereed for on lumbar spine MRI came back clear but some signs early wear and tear. She referred me to Rheumatologist just to rule out any arthritic issues. Thought that this would be a wasted trip but turned out to be quiet the reverse, he identified I had swollen Bursitis in the hip, which duly got a steroid injection. Had another MRI done on my SI joints and hips which came back all clear as well. Returned 2 weeks later for review Bursitis still tender so another injection and 3 weeks more off running.

Glad to be back running

This brought me to mid march. I was down to pace Limerick half marathon as part of the 2 hour pace band and with little or no running done since previous November it did not look likely. Decided if I could not run a pain free sub 50 in the Packie Ryan Memorial 10K a week later, there was no way I could pace a 2 hour Half Marathon in Limerick 6 weeks after that. Ran it comfortably in 48:30 and completely free of pain so Limerick in May was my next goal. Upped the mileage to about 25 miles per week, no side effects paced Limerick half marathon and 55 minute band for the Bridge Milers 10K 2 weeks later.

Acute Injuries heal quicker

Words of my physio after I stupidly twisted my knee acting the goose with my nieces. X-Rays showed only damage inflicted was on my ego and another 4-6 weeks off running. Not too bad as 2 of those where going to be on the long awaited trip to Portugal. Also the rest would do my tight Hamstrings and Glutes no harm at all.

SQL Express 2008 on Server Core 2008 R2

So I installed Server Core on a site which I felt at the time would not need a full blown GUI as their only requirement was some security and file sharing. Well as usual the goalposts move and they now want to run an app that requires SQL backend. Suppiler who I have dealt with before tends to use SQL Express where possible. So rather the reinstall the server from scratch I investigate can I get it on Server Core. Answer yes I did but It is not supported by Microsoft so caution is advised if its on a production server.

Prerequisites

The following features need to be enabled

• NetFx2-ServerCore
• NetFx3-ServerCore
• ServerCore-WOW64
• NetFx2-ServerCore-WOW64
• NetFx3-Server-Core-WOW64
• MicrosoftWindowsPowerShell

Use dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:<feature1> /featurename:<feature2> etc  to install all of the above.

Installation

Download SqlSeverExpress-2008-x64 and save to temporary location. Use 7-Zip Portable to extract files to a folder of your choice.
Run setup with the following parameters (on seperate lines for clarity but of course will be on a single line separeted by spaces)
/qs  
/ACTION=Install
/FEATURES=SQL
/INSTANCENAME=SQLEXPRESS
/SQLSVCACCOUNT="NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM" /SQLSYSADMINACCOUNTS="BUILTIN\ADMINISTRATORS"
/AGTSVCACCOUNT="NT AUTHORITY\Network Service"
/IAcceptSQLServerLicenseTerms
This will take 5 to 10 minutes to load. If any errors are encountered have a look in the summary.txt file located in %ProgramFiles% \Microsoft SQL Server\100\Setup Bootstrap\Log folder.

Enable Remote Access

To enable remote connections, use SQLCMD.exe locally and execute the following statements against the Server Core instance

sqlcmd -S <SERVERNAME>\SQLEXPRESS -E
1>EXEC sys.sp_configure N'remote access', N'1'
2>GO
1>RECONFIGURE WITH OVERRIDE
2>GO
1>exit
sqlcmd is located %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn folder.

Firewall Configuration

Open a netsh propt in the folloing context

netsh advfirewall firewall

>set rule group="remote administration" new enable=yes

>add rule name=SQLTCPPort dir=in protocol=tcp action=allow localport=1433 remoteip=localsubnet 

>add rule name=SQLNPPort dir=in protocol=udp action=allow localport=1434 remoteip=localsubnet

Enable TCP/IP

By default TCP/IP is not enabled. You can use TCPENABLED=1 in the setup to enable it but it defaults to using Dynamic Ports. I prefer to assign ports for easier firewall configuration. Open regedit and Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10_50.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQLServer\SuperSocketNetlib\tcp
set Enabled (DWORD) to 1

Enable TCP on all interfaces

open IPALL SubKey
clear TcpDynamicPorts (string)
set TcpPort (string)to 1433 or port of your choice

Enable TCP on Selected Interfaces

SubKeys IP1 to IP9 will contain settings for each interface. change the following in each subkey that you wish to have enabled
set Enabled (DWORD) to 1
clear TcpDynamicPorts (string)
set TcpPort (string)to 1433 or port of your choice

Enable Named Pipes

This is not enabled by default. Open Regedit and navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10_50.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQLServer\SuperSocketNetlib\np
set Enabled (DWORD) to 1

Finally

Restart the SQL Server
sc stop MSSQL$SQLEXPRESS
sc start MSSQL$SQLEXPRESS
If you still have remote connection problems your client or application may not be getting the correct port/instance name. Enable and start the SQLBrowser service
sc config SQLBrowser start= auto (space between = and auto)
sc start SQLBrowser