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