Aeolus and the Hyades

Marathon 13 unlucky for some

Last year in Sixmilebridge I learnt a lesson that stood me well when setting off for Craughwell to run Marathon Number 13. No matter how nice the morning, plan for all eventualities. Looking out from the community hall in Craughwell at the wind and rain, I was glad I had packed a decent jacket and spare dry runners, socks, under armour and my Santie Present (Compression Calf Sleeves) which I robbed from under the tree that morning. I was contemplating not using the Jacket until the halfway mark but wisely I changed my mind. There was a large group of people for this race, which included a half marathon and 5K run for Craughwell AC fit for life group. Val gave the pre race briefing before going to the start to get wet. Course consisted of 8 Laps so the plan for this was to run it around 4:05 pace and do the last lap at marathon effort. We set off and pretty quickly the field spread out nicely. I took it very easy on the first few miles. We had the wind and rain at our backs for most of the first half of the lap and the stretch up through the town. The section into the wind and rain was slightly uphill and extremely tough going. Got through the first lap in exactly 30 Minutes so again I was going relatively easy at 4 Hour Pace, ditto again for the second lap. Finally got into a group halfway through the third lap which made running into the wind and rain a little easier. Frank from EOI was in this group so time ticked on for next couple of laps. Some ladies also noted my nice new white socks and that I would have difficulty in keeping them clean. Had planned on changing at the halfway point but it was so bad I would only be dry for one or two miles so didn't bother.

Water Station 

The Start/Finish had a water station and it was every bit a water station in every sense of the word. You would need a canoe to navigate it. On lap five the going was getting tough in that we lost about a minute and a half. The group split up here so I hit away and made back some time. Crossed lap six in just under the 3 Hour mark. The last two laps saw the weather get worse and I started my Marathon Pace effort a mile earlier just to get in out of it. Finished in 3:54:34 with the last 4 or so miles done at 8:05 per mile. Not the pace I would like it to be but in those conditions I was happy that I was able to grind them out. Afterwards the spread of food was brillant with every variety of niceties to fill and warm the soul. Plenty of good auld banter afterwards once everyone got in and was dry. Val presented Brenda Francis with her Bronze Medal for completing her 25th Marathon. A special word of thanks to the Marshall's and volunteers who looked after us so well on the course, especially in the conditions that we got on the day. All that was left for me to do was wash my Santie present and get it back under the tree without herself indoors noticing!!

Some shorter stuff

With it being about 9 weeks out from Seville I have been concentrating on higher tempo shorter stuff for a bit just to sharpen myself up. Unfortunately the weather has not been playing ball and its very hard to judge paces with the recent spell of wind and rain. This is especially harder when trying to do intervals when the wind tends to gust up to 100KMH. Sometimes it felt like Aeolus himself would wait until I was running into him on the lap when he would unleash his vengeance. So trying to do these to exact pace was going to be nigh on impossible so I paced them as best I could on effort. One type of run I have been playing with which is tough but may well help me toward the later end of a marathon is 400m @ 10K paced followed by 800m @ Marathon Pace with no recovery/rest between sets. I have got this up to 8 sets before Marathon Pace starts to feel like 10K pace.
Had planned to run my first every 5 miler and had set-up the week to try and do it justice, however the weather again intervened this time in the shape of a frosty St Stephens Morning, which meant the cancellation of the race. Still went to Cratloe woods for a workout with some others from the club. What I learnt from this is I need to work on my hills. Did a 600 and I flew off on the downhill section but the lads chewed me up again once we hit the incline. Going to concentrate on more of this shortened stuff for the first month of the new year in an effort to get some speed into the legs. Will keep the long runs to between 2 and 2:30 as having completed 7 Marathons since June has given me a good base on which to build on.

PB's and Hills

Tempo Running !!

I decided to venture down and see what kinda tempo run the boss does on a Tuesday Night. On arrival Richie's clock has been transported to the complex so we could keep track of our times. This should have set off alarm bells but when the boss says we are running a 5K time trial and you can run it at any pace you want. This code for flatout as fast as you can, and there are no prizes for guessing the course either. My PB for 5K is old and stands at 22:01. I decided that I would have a go at sub 21:00. We set off and I tried to pace myself off someone but no one was at my pace. Anthony went off in front was clearly sub 20 and then there was me. I had a discussion with Gary post DCM about not using a watch in races and trying to judge it by effort. While I did have my watch, but trying to hit the light button and run 5K pace was not working out. Pretty much time to put my idea into practice, so all I did was hit the lap button at each mile. Well it was a disaster in terms of pacing, I went out too fast 6:34 for the first mile and fell apart going up the hill on mile 2. 6:56 & 7:01 for mile 2 and 3 with 21:17 as the overall time. A bit disappointed and the HR figures where low so maybe I just didn't push it hard enough. There will be other days where having some other runners around in these sharp end races might make me shove on that extra bit. A new PB coming home was a little bit unexpected.

Finding Yourself

My first trip to West Cork to pace the Clonakilty Waterfront Half Marathon. Tom had asked me several weeks before hand about this but it wasn't until I got the pacer email with Mr Desmond's attachment about pacing the hills when it suddenly dawned on me to check the course profile. I had wrongly assumed that because it was on the waterfront we would be at sea level for most of this. I should have read the course blob, scenic views, the only time you get thoses is at the top of hills.This was going to be a tricky pacing gig, I was pacing 2:15 half and doing it solo to the pressure was on. Normally the pace would be 10:17 per mile but the course was not anywhere near flat,so I made up a pace band based on the following, 9:30 for downhill miles, 10:00 on the flat and 11:15 on the climbs, initially this landed at 2:13:30, so I added the spare minute to mile nines climb.

Printed off the band and made my way down south with Clubmate and novice pacer Brendan. Arrived and meet up with the usual suspects, and hit to the hotel after 10:30 looking for grub. The hotel obliged at this late hour one or two well maybe even three glass of hydration before getting the head down. Woke the next morning early with Tom in a bit of a fluff trying to make sure we were already to go before 8.I got my fryup this time unlike Dublin but the Coffee took too long to deliver (must have been coming from Java). Back to the room to get kitted out when Tom informs us that key to today's operation is getting the balloons home BANG, no sooner are the words out of his mouth but he burst one, balloon carrying duties are handed over to the novice pacer as no one else was stepping up to the mark. Off to the start where we meet up with the Eagle AC contingent, photos, loos breaks and soon its time to make our way to the start. The half is starting out the road a bit so all three of us make our way out. I lined up at the back and it looked like there was a small crowd, however this was not the case as most runners had left it late getting here and where all lining up behind us. I thought about moving back but already a group of about 50 were around me, so  to hell with it, the faster runners have no else to blame but themselves when they get held up by us as they got to the start late. The gun went off on time and pretty soon there is a bit off shoving as faster runners come through us. The first 3 miles are pancake flat and in the still of the morning running along the waterfront sure where else would you be. The first climb at 3 miles was quite steep and I lost a lot of the group here, I even dropped the pace to 11:30 in spots but a lot gave up and walked. From here to Mile 9 is up and down but mostly down and some managed to catch up again. Had about Twelve on the climb at mile 9 and all made it up with me. However for some this exertion would catch them on the last three miles. I lost one on the downhill, knee gave up I think. Two more dropped out on the flat before mile 11. Two more tried to stop with a half a mile to go but a trick I learnt in Limerick was to place my hand on their backs which got them going again. A lot of runners who were struggling in the last mile came back to me but I told them that they had 30 seconds and keep going and not to stop. Most of the group had gone ahead and 5 or 6 had just dropped of me slightly. Got in in 2:14:28 just 2 seconds off requirement and spent the next bit roaring at the few stragglers coming in behind. Looking at the results later, any runner that finished 30 seconds after me got a sub 2:15 nett time and there was a gap of over a Minute to the next runner.Safe to say I don't think I could have paced it any better if it was a flat course and I still had my balloon so job done. 

Afterwards hung around for a good bit as the atmosphere was great and endless Tea/Coffee and Biscuits and of course the famous Clonakilty Black Pudding and Sausages on offer. Soon it was time to head back to clean up and head home to Clare again. I didn't get to meet a lot of the Marathon runners as I was gone by the time they finished especially Thomas who was doing his 50th, glad to say he completed it and got his Silver Medal from Pat O'Keeffe afterwards. The weekend itself was top notch from what I could see. I would not have expected anything less from Bob and his team.

Eddie Murphy 2013

Clon comes to Clare

Myself and Paul wanted to run the Eddie Murphy on Sunday so we were duly handed the responsibility of looking after the Directors Run on Saturday. After a few doubts whether we would have enough to run the marathon race we eventually had Thirteen starters as well as Seven from the club in the half. Looking at the lineup for the start it appears a certain Mr Hillard must have been giving out free tech tops again. I thought we had travelled forward in time by three weeks and were actually in Clonakilty judging by the attire most runners had on. There was however one proud 10 in 10 finisher top on display. The rest of the day was looking after our small group with water, jaffas and support. The other job was counting laps, which just drove me scatty and thank god we were going to have chip timing tomorrow. There was a brief discussion afterward about tomorrow pending runs, my contribution was along the lines that if I was ever to do an ultra which I didn't see happening any time soon, I would go the whole hog and do a 100 Mile race. Famous last words.

Less than 100 but over 26.2

After about three hours sleep due to a gig the night before,  I have a small Breakfast and make my way to Sixmilebridge.In the darkness there are only a few lonely souls setting up the course for the day and registering the brave Double Marathon Runners. I have an early start so that I would be available for giving a hand later. Its not long before we start and there are about nine of us doing the marathon with the Double Marathon runners. During the week I had one very good session where I did 13 miles @ 8:30 pace and felt really strong but then I followed that up with a five miler and 9:30 pace my legs where like lead weights. I decided the plan was to go at 9:30 or 4:10 pace. Well best laid plans. First lap was just over nine minutes so I took it easier on the next lap or so I tought same again a little over nine minutes. This went on for several laps so I finally conceded that this seemed to be the most comfortable pace for me. The miles laps moved along very quickly as they always do in this race. The thing I like and many others like about the one mile loop is you are always passing or been passed by someone. Even though I at no stage ran with anyone it never felt lonely. Got to mile 19/20 and I just felt like I was only after starting the run, it was then that a mad idea entered my head. I suddenly realised that no one from the club was running the 30 miler or the Double Marathon. Well you can't host a run in Eddie Murphy's memory and have no club member at least have a go at an Ultra. I was going so well at this point that I decided there and then to do another four miles and go for it. I let Richie and John on the clock know what I was doing and off I went with a new plan. Cross the marathon in sub 4 and run on feel after that for another four laps. Finished the marathon in 3:58:09 and set off again, laps 27 & 28 were indeed a new experience. At the start I asked Jim McNiece why he had a selection of shoes in his box. His answer was dry feet make comfortable feet. I now knew what he meant, at the start of lap 27 my feet were sliding around in a pair of shoes that were soaked through at this stage. I tried some running repairs but it didn't really sort it out. Luckily I remembered on the next lap I had a dry pair in the car which was parked near the start. New dry shoes I set about upping the pace for the last two laps. On the last lap going as hard as I can the 30 mile leaders cruise past me, my one bad moment of the day was here, Thoms greets me and I bitch about how easily he just passed me and I was flat to the boards. Anyway finished in 4:33:35. Another great thing about this race is you get a split for every mile, the results showed two very positive things to me. My first 25 miles had 5 mile splits of 45:30,45:17,45:28,45:27,45:27 which showed that I consistently knocked out sub Four hour marathon pace for most of the race. My last five mile split was 44:26 but that was because of the shoe pitstop and knocking out mile 29 and 30 in 8:03 and 7:51 respectfully. Putting in those times on that course after 28 miles has really given me the confidence to kick on and get a sub 3:25 next year for Boston.

The Aftermath

My day didn't finish there, spent the rest of the day doing a mixture of tasks. Surprisingly I was able to move with some degree of efficiency and was able to contribute to the proceedings just as things started to get busy with Half Marathon runners starting to register. The banter was good and some new faces were adding their own mark to the race. Some even managed to render our MC speechless for a while, which was the greatest achievement of the day. From a racing point of view the Half Marathon was the race to produce this year with the front three been pretty close throughout and it was only decided on the last lap. The day flew by, the weather obliged slightly and it wasnt long until all that was left was the few lonely souls doing the cleanup and putting the village back together in the darkness and rain.

Sixmilebridge would wake up on Monday morning as if nothing at all had changed, but those of us who were there on Sunday experienced something unique and have a special piece of Tipperary Bling to show for our efforts

The Big One

Pacer Stand/Expo

Picking up numbers at the expo was extremely efficient so hats off to all the volunteers  Pacer stand was mayhem not really helped by its size or location. Really busy handing out pace bands, explaining the role of pacers etc. It still really surprises me how some people can have goal times in their head the day before a race that differs by 30 or more minutes.

Post Race Knees up

Not really what's on the horizon for the other 14,600 runners, but the pacer meal was a great social event. Meet up with many old friends and even some new ones. The sport at our table was especially good when you have two corkonians trading punches across the table. We retired to the lounge where we finished off the vino. There were suggestions of a trip to the residents bar but that idea didn't float so we all got to bed at a civilised hour and everyone was ready for the job ahead tomorrow.

The race

As I had no salt tablets my plan was to eat a good auld Full Irish for Breakfast, unfortunately I had to make do with the more carb/healthy option as the fry did not materialise until after Seven. I did however seek out a banana or two for my mid run snack. I was really surprised that the backpacks which held the pacer flags/sails were quite lightweight and easy to secure. At first fitting they came across the nipple area but a little adjustment moved them away. Large quantities of vaseline applied to prevent chaffing and down to the lobby to meet up with the others. We set off at a little before Eight for the start for a quick photo shot and dropped off my bag with towel and dry top for the finish. Weather was a bit nippy at this point but at least it was dry. We took up our positions at the start and slowly but surely a large enough group started to assemble around us. Plenty of questions about pace and other things, loads of banter. Tom even had to show one runner how to operate her Garmin. At 9:20 we got the off, for some reason my GPS watch failed to pick up a satellite  so it ended up been a dumb stopwatch for the day. No worries as I had a foot-pod polar as backup and two other able bodies with me in the shape of Tom and Dipak. Turns out we had well in excess of 200 marathons ran between us and as my tally only accounted for Ten so I and our pacees were in safe hands.
The first few miles we found that the mile markers were a little longer so we ended up been down about 30 seconds  Once we got into the park we were back on target though. Certain ladies in the group who had difficulties in the bladder department found that there was queues at the first set portaloos we met at mile Three. My suggestion of what they should do did not go down too well, it certainly got a reaction from some of the ladies.  At this stage we had got to know some of our group, there was a good gang with us from West Waterford AC and 4-5 ladies from Dunleer running for Team Carrie of whom some had made an early request for a fag break, turns out they were still 20 a day smokers. There was even one lady looking for a date for some social event or another around mile 8. I will not forget the lady from New Zealand who took a shine to me especially in the finish area. Once we left the park things start to get that little bit harder for those around us as we hit the climbs around Inchicore, South Circular Road and the Crumlin Road. We hit half-way with 2:24:46 on the watches very much on target. Over the next few miles it was pretty difficult to keep the pace as it was downhill and with a tail wind. The time gained allowed us to give back some time on the climb out of Miltown and Roebuck Hill itself. It was just a matter of getting people up the two climbs without stopping. Once that was done most of the group still with us where with us till the end. We picked up other runners dropping back from the 4:40 pacers, who we just kept encouraging them to get a move on and start running with us. At Grand Canal Street we told the fresher runners around us to hit for home. From here to the finish we pretty much hit every mile on time but the congestion on Mile 25 cost us about 20 Seconds so we just had to pick it up a bit around Trinity College  Great support around the finish and three of the West Waterford Girls and the smokers from Dunleer were still there with us at the end as we crossed the line.

The aftermath

Walked back to the hotel with Tom for a quick shower, and then to McGrattan's for the usual post race recovery drink, pints of the Black Stuff. Meet up with some fellow pacers  and boardies, but as per usual at the end of the night putting names to handles was a bit beyond me. A great buzz about as Orna not only broke but destroyed sub 3 hour to finish 9th Lady. It showed with a lot of work it can be done, I was really delighted for her as were many others. The photo call with an ex RTE newsreader was probably the best bit of fun for the night. Rolled back to the hotel slightly after midnight happy in the knowledge that another one done. Following morning was a different matter, could not talk and had the usual post marathon pains, one especially in the head but as herself says self inflicted so just get on with it.

Better Every Day

Running up that Hill

Had Not been to club training in quite a while so decided I had better show my face. Thursday nights is Interval/Speed workouts so I have decided to do as many sessions as possible between now and Dublin. So where does a club with no track run its 400/800 intervals ? You got it up heartbreak hill. Last week also saw the added benefit of some typical Sixmilebridge Whether  We were treated to a typical torrential downpour. By the time Eddie Murphy comes round I will either be sick to death with it or maybe I might not even notice it's there.

WOI Galway

An unplanned excursion mainly due to Man Flu saw me line up at the start of the WOI Marathon in Galway. I only decided to run it 3 days prior so the plan was to take this extremely easy and do some miles at the pace I will be pacing Dublin at. Meet up with the usual MCI heads before hand where we witnessed the warm up routine that the 10K runners were vigorously going through. It was quite intense, not what I would call a gentle warm-up by any stretch, some people were actually pretty spent after it. We started with the 10K runners for the first loop and settled in to a group of three Myself, Caroline and Paul at about 9:30 pace. Caroline was saying this was her fourth marathon, it was only later that we realised she also ran the 24 hour in Belfast and the 50 mile in Dingle so it kinda but this my 10th Marathon back into its box. We pretty much kept this pace for the first half and I will admit that when I got to 14 miles I was happy to doing the next 7 miles at 11 minute pace. The heat and humidity where really knocking the stuffing out of me and I let Caroline go on at this point. Ran a bit with Gerard Fay and a few more so its great to be able to have a brief chat with people to pass the miles away. Got to mile 21 and had promised myself a Ice Cream cone so on the last Lap I got one, I must have looked a sight jogging up the prom in Salthill like a big child with his face covered in Ice-Cream. Ran a few miles with Valerie who kinda half convinced me to run in Craughwell in December  With 5K to go I decided to pick up the pace but after about a mile my legs started to cramp a small bit so I eased into a run walk for the last 2-3 km. Interval sessions on the Thursday prior probably didn't help me here. Overall considering I have been sick for the previous 2-3 weeks and the heat of the day 4:21 was a decent enough result.

Recovery

The same as my previous Marathon. A dip in the sea afterwards followed by watching Clare in the hurling followed by several pints of the black stuff. This time I managed to find my way home. I am still unsure why this works because I was not sore the next day and was back running on Monday Evening. I had left the decision to Pace the Human Race in Limerick until Monday so when the boss rang I was able to give him a positive answer. I declined the chance to pace 4 hours as I felt that it was a little outside my comfort zone for 30K and left whether I did 4:15 or 4:30 up to him. This was a more appealing option then racing 6K Cross Country trying not to finish last.

The Human Race

First running of this event and I can say that the experience was a good one. The whole event was ran very well, plenty of Marshals, Water and KM markers spot on. With these things in place it is very easy to pace or race such an event. The combination of Dooneen AC and the Management of GLR was a good one and they should take credit where its due. Hopefully this race will stay on the Calendar for next year.

courtesy of Munster Images

I had a smalish group and there was some confusion at the start with the half marathon runners a bit bemused that there was no 2 hour pacer. Maybe something to look into for next year and possibly start the 3 races separately rather than the 30K and Half both starting together. Had an initial group of 8-10 runners and most seemed to be going at a comfortable enough pace. Three ladies took off shortly after 3-4 K. I would catch two of them on the last lap but both where able to stay in touch and pass me again in the last KM. Again I lost my balloon when it got ensnared on the bridge just coming up to the end of the first lap. This kinda leaves you anonymous for the race but luckily I had an idea of the faces that started with me and the group was still pretty much intact.
After 15K we lost 2 out the back and 3 pulled away ahead not to be seen again. This left me and Mike who was actually going easier than I was, without my balloon it was hard to tell which one of us was the pacer. I had a quick toilet break but was back with the group again within 1K, it was good to stretch the legs out a bit. Caught up with some of the stragglers who were starting to suffer. One girl who was pretty much going at marathon pace was telling me she did 20 the previous week and had planned 22 next week. Dublin was to be her first so I told her that 22 miles next week would just be too much for her that close to the race, I really hope she takes my advice on board. Meet with Rebecca who had been with me in Limerick and Killarney where she got a Sub 2 hour on both days. She struggled over the last 5K but stuck with it even though I dropped her in the last 2K she had started far enough behind me to make the time on her chip. Came home in 3:01:15 3 secs under pace, and pretty much all that started with me that went ahead or where still there after 15K got home with the time they were aiming for.
The combination of the last two weeks races have giving me my first 50 mile weeks in over two years with thankfully no ill effects afterwards.  With this in mind I will easy back this week and keep myself intact for Dublin.

This is a man's ???

Man Flu

Having resigned myself to not getting near 3:25 this year or in time for Boston 2014, I have entered a spring marathon in Seville for early next year. This may be a better option than trying to deal with the the unpredictable Irish weather. Anyone targeting times this year during the summer months had to contend with unusually high temperatures which for us Vitamin D lacking redheads really impairs on our performances. I have gone back to base training and with no major injury issues this year have managed 35-40 miles a week, I am going to try and get back slowly to 6-7 days a week and bring the mileage up 50+ miles a week. So first two weeks of September went very well with 40 and 45 miles respectfully, then the dreaded Man Flu hits me. I have not suffered this from with 2 years so herself indoors is not quite up to speed as to what is required in this situation.
It also has made a mess of my plans to get Marathon number ten done in September. Struck me down the day before Athlone and still suffering so that ruled out Carlow to Kilkenny yesterday. My symptoms are getting better and hopefully I can make the start line in Galway on Saturday Morning.

On the Horizon

In the not so distant future I will be pacing Dublin City Marathon again at 4:50. Pacers are every ten minutes this year for the first time and the gap between 4:30 and 5:00 is filled. It will be interesting to see if it splits up the bigger groups and what the uptake will be in the 4:40 and 4:50 groups. Previously there was a lot of enquiries at the expo for a 4:45 band so I am hopeful we will have some company early on. Three weeks later the annual Eddie Murphy Memorial Run takes place on that famous 1 Mile loop of Sixmilebridge. Online entries are now available on eventmaster and it is for a very worthy cause.

Two Outta Three ain't Bad

The (wee) Hills of Donegal

Decided to take a leaf out other runners book and plan this year's holidays around a marathon or a series of them. So off to Inishowen for my holidays this year. Herself asked is there anything on up there "yeah just a marathon or two". Unfortunately it only turned out to be One as the Fleadh was on in Derry and getting accommodation proved very difficult. Eventually got a house for a week but it meant that we would arrive on the Saturday (Day 3) and the only race open to me would be Sundays trip around Malin Head.
The date in question also coincided with Crystal Palaces first Premiership Game and Clare's All Ireland Semi Final against Limerick on the Box. My plan was a 4 hour marathon would get me into Culdaff with 30 minutes to spare to get to a drinking hostelry with the young fella in time for the Palace Game. The race in question is pretty much self sufficient so on Saturday Evening I drove the course in reverse to drop a bottle of water at Mile 21. On the way back Christopher made the comment that he would meet me at half time in the Pub.
The next morning saw the usual gang of runners assemble plus a first timer from the U.S.A in Culdaff for transport to the start line. Banter was good and up to its usual standard with certain people getting it in the neck for getting lost the day before. We all got shipped off to the start a quick race brief and off we go. I decided that sub 4 hour would be a little too adventurous today so I started very easy for the first few miles to leave something in the tank for the climbs later. After we passed through Malin Town we hit the mile 4 marker which was my 1000th for the year and the hardest of the day, we got hit with a squally shower and a gale in our faces. I was running with Gerry (who got lost the previous day) and Steve where we took turns at the front to provide cover until the shower passed and the wind died down. Steve dropped away at Lags Church to take some photos so myself and Gerry continued on up the first climb.

We got to what I thought was top, looking down to the church I commented that it was not all that bad, turned the next corner to be faced with a steep incline and wind in the face, from here on I kept such comments to myself. As Gerry had inadvertently ran an ultra the day before he was suffering on the downhills with his Quads. To keep mine from suffering the same fate I just ran down them as fast as my legs could go and easy up to let Gerry catch up again on the level. We got to Mile Ten and I had to make a quick pit stop, Gerry stopped up and waited. The miles ticked away again after this, and the fantastic scenery and company helped with this. Shortly after the Half we met the Champ who was taking a walk break, then Gerry found the need to jump the wall so I walked with Shane for a bit, until gerry caught up again. The next 2 miles were pretty flat the pace seemed to up and I was starting to feel it. We hit the start of a 5 mile long climb at mile 16 and after a mile Gerry decided to take a walking break, so I ploughed ahead on my own. Shortly afterwards I meet Gino sporting his 100 marathon jersey he got in Sixmilebridge, quick hello and on again. A constant climb until you get to Mile 21, meant that the downhill legs needed a couple of minutes to warm to the task in hand once I crested the climb. Pretty much downhill from here until 24 so I put down the boot and picked up a good chunk of time. We also had the company of a cyclists doing a 100 mile inishowen loop and could hear them coming behind so we had to keep well into the side of the road. At mile 24 one of the crew was driving around handing out Jaffa Cakes.

The wee Hill

She said to me one more wee hill and its downhill to the finish. Wee is a word used a lot in the Donegal dialect that does not loosely translate to small or minor in fact in this case it was quite the opposite. I had to revert to walking the second section of this hill it was that steep. It was downhill to the finish after that and on the way down I spied Culdaff Beach or locally known as Caratra, which planted a seed of a swim straight afterwards in my head. Got over the line in 4:08:01 by my watch, official time however has me at 4:10:00 really made no difference to my finish position so I will take the official time. Afterwards the lure of the ocean was too much so I dumped the kids in the Car and hit straight for the beach. Wading hip high in the sea after 26.2 miles is divine no matter how cold/wet/breezy the day was.

Black is the Colour

One down two to go, settled down with a pint of the black stuff with an overflowing plate of grub provided by the Extreme North ladies. One eye on the match the other on the presentation of prizes. As each Quadrathon participant got their Medal (weapon of mass destruction) Spurs got a penalty ah shite. There was a special presentation to Shane McCarville for breaking Dave Brady's record of 47 Marathons in a Calendar Year in Ireland, also another for Dave himself in having completed 60 in the 12 months since last years Quadrathon. Palace pressing another pint quick we might just get something out of this, but it never materialised. With the presentation finished and most were hitting home, I settled into the bar with the young fella for the main event of the day. Well what can you say Limerick really shot themselves in the foot, free taker could not hit a barn door on the day and Management failing to address it until half time gave us the gap we needed. At half time more pints of the black stuff, no Limerick revival so onwards to the final against the rebels. Of course the day didn't finish there oh no. Got some grub dropped the young fella home and out to finish of the celebrations. At some early hour on Monday morning I left the pub and took a right where it should have been a left. It took me awhile to realise I went the wrong way so I capped the day of with a 4 mile ( 2  mile as the crow flies) recovery walk home.

It only hurts when I walk lift my head

The usual stiffness/soreness normally associated with a 26.2 run where not to be seen. All that was evident was a little man with a hammer in my head and the embarrassment of getting lost in a city the size of Culdaff. I would like to think that the gallon or two of black stuff or the 2 mile stagger home where what were responsible for my quick recovery but I dare say the 20 mins in the sea afterwards was really responsible. The rest of the week was a lot of unwinding on the beach with a few sprinkling of 4-5 mile recovery runs thrown in. I will definitely come back at some point in the future and tackle some of the other course in the Quadtrathon.

August 18th
       26.2 Miles 4:10:00 @  9:32 pace, No HR    

August 27th
       9 Miles Tempo 6 miles 47:37 @  7:56 pace, HR 164 with 1.5 Mile WUWD

Take it Easy

Vacation from Running

Recently a lot of my runs were beginning to feel like a chore. Having notched up 950 miles in the year, I decided that a change was as good as a rest. So I hung up the runners for a week or two. This gave me some extra time for family activities and some long overdue jobs around the house. It also coincided with my 47th Birthday and 18th Anniversary and sure the rest would do the legs no harm. So how does a runner manage to strain both achilles calves without running even one mile?
He plays footie on a beach with the young fella for 30 minutes with no shoes on. Driving home they felt a bit tight but next morning I had to revert to walking downstairs backwards as forwards just hurt too much. This added another week to the lay up. Anyway back to doing some mileage this week and all seems good with the exception that I have slowed down somewhat, this is probably a weight gain issue but I am just too scared to stand on the scales however the mirror don't lie. I have also rather craftily lined up what promises to The Best Sunday ever or it may turn out to be the worst. More to follow on this later.

Barefoot running

I was really surprised at how little I did barefoot that left my calves/achilles in a condition similar to that of running 26.2 miles in what we call running shoes. I use a support shoe which probably has a 10 to 12 mm raise at the heel. It really brought home to me that I am most likely under utilising my lower leg which in turn is most likely placing a higher load further up the chain. I have done some reading on the web in this regard and I am probably better off running barefoot but the transition involved would need to be very slow, or one would need to go back to the start with a couch to 5K type buildup. If I ever had (touches loads of wood) a serious injury which kept me off running for 3 months or more then I might consider the switch but for now I will stick with my High Heel runners.

August 13th  
          4.1 Miles Easy  37:38 @ 9:06 HR 142

August 14th
       10 Miles Long Recovery 1:37:11 @  9:41 pace, HR 143    

The Drought

Take it easy

After the exertions of the 10 in 10 I had decided to take a break from running for a few weeks. Legs had felt really zapped over the last number of easy runs. Then I get a text message from Tom with a requirement to fill a pacer gap in Killarney for the half marathon. After much toing and froing I eventually get the call up on Friday morning to do the 2 hour slot. Traveled to Killarney with Paul who was on the 4 Hour slot and arrived to register pick up gear and acquaint ourselves with the other guys. Meet up with several of the 10 in 10 legends that evening for a few sociables before hitting for the bed. I was rooming with John Desmond and we ended talking about the lack of club run races in Clare and Limerick. Rose next morning to the magnificent view of the National Park outside the window. Ireland is the best place in the world when we get weather like this, more is the pity it only happens every twenty or so years. Quick breakfast, collect balloons get the pacer brief from John and bus to the start. Decided to join the portaloo queue in case of any movement from down below. It was quite long but passed the time chatting with some fellow runners of which two would be starting with me. Plenty of males and females jumping the wall to do paula radcliffe's. Could really have done with some more portaloos at the start. Not long before the start and we line up just behind the four hour guys Brian and Paul. My partner in Crime for today was Roger O'Mahony so with introductions done we set about our task. We had a big group at the start but even though the course is nett downhill there are 2 climbs in the first Three miles which broke up the group pretty quickly. First water station not a sign of a water bottle empty or full or even a volunteer. This was as cause for concern as temperatures were starting to rise. Pace wise it was difficult to hold the pace on the downhill sections and we had built up a cushion of 40 seconds. At mile 4 a support vehicle past us and I asked if they could get more water up to the stations as no one from here back had got any water since the start. He said he would, whether it materialised or not is another thing. When we got to the second station they had just ran out of water. As we passed some irate runner was giving  the guy at the water table a right earful, I left at this point before I blew my top with the wally. Picked up as many half empties as I could hold and gave them out amongst our ever dwindling group.

Courtesy of Kerry through a lens

Finally between Mile 9 and 10 we came across water and sponges, a welcome relief for us all, but in these temperatures for runners that are not used to running in this heat or distance it was really too little too late and they were already feeling the effects both physically and mentally. From here to the finish we kept a group of 6 to 8 runners going, my watch for some unknown reason reset itself shortly after at mile ten. I had a backup standard watch and Roger did a good job in keeping an eye on the average pace to the finish. We hit Miles 10 through 12 bang on bang time according to the pace bands. Finished 1:59:35 job done but a lot to ponder on with regard to the race itself. Post race atmosphere at the finish was quite good, and I availed of the leisure centre for a wind down. Paul wanted to get get home quickly after finishing his run so we didn't hang around but it looked like the party was getting into full swing. From a personal point of view I was royally treated on Friday and Saturday but I cannot ignore the fact that the paying runners around me were left with no water for 3/4 of the race when running in temperatures in the mid Twenties.

Getting the basics right

It is sad to say again another all sing and all dance race with scenic views, medals, goodie bags, burgers, bands, pacers and crack, fails to get the basics of a race correct. The lack of or no water in the early parts of the race for the majority of runners is unforgivable regardless of how much I personally enjoyed this event. All too often basic mistakes are been made in Marshalling, course measurement and delivery of promised facilities during these events. Afterwards we get an apology and reassured it will be better next year. While some people are of the view that voting with our feet will make these races sit up at do things right, I think this is not the case. There is sufficient numbers of non club runners who prefer these events to club races which will ensure their survival until they figure things out. This is something that clubs will have to address, why do these runners feel that they don't belong at the start line of many club races. Maybe Johns views on the lack of club races in certain areas of Munster is contributing to this. By getting more casual runners into the club running scene then maybe we can show them what is the difference between a good quality race ran for runners and razmataz event that loses sight of the basics. Its time for clubs to step up and take running  to the next level.

Bright Side of the Road

Always take the weather with you

Sixmilebridge delivered again. If running 10 Marathons in Ten days was going to be hard enough, the weather as usual made it a true test of stamina. Not since the summer of 95 when Clare finally kicked Biddy Earlys curse to touch have we seen temperatures in the high 20's and low 30's. As I have said before I don't think GOD likes us marathon runners too much or maybe he had an alternate motive for inflicting such conditions on the 23 or so lunatics about to attempt this challenge. Short story 23 legends were born over that week, they inspired a community and showed that faced with the adversity what the human spirit and body can endure. Eighteen of those got home on the final day but the five that fell had the hardest choice to make in pulling out. They had brought themselves as close to the cliff both mentally and physically before making the correct choice to let it go for another time. The motto on the back of the finishers t-shirt got this spot on. So many memories and emotions were experienced over the ten days, watching the joy on the their faces as we approached with Mr Freezes and Ice Lollies. Sharing their smiles each evening as they ran,jumped, walked or crawled under the finish gauntry to step closer to their ultimate goal. 

Some of the finishers

They say you get out what you put in, well I can honestly say I came away with much more then I gave.
As special mention must go to Tom and Richie, the success or failure of this event lay at their door. If it failed they would carry the can, well it didn't and was there ever any doubt in that. That been the case they fully deserve the credit for its success.

Dark Side of the moon

I could not pass up the opportunity to run at least one marathon last week. I had originally pencilled in Thursday but had to switch to Wednesday instead due to my own incompetence in looking at my calendar.  I know the course pretty well and had ran it on Saturday in the low 20's for a very uncomfortable and hard Two hour half marathon. How I was going to fare in the high 20's was another matter. Wednesday or Day Seven was the warmest so far but not as humid as other days well thats what I was telling myself. We gathered at the start with everyone trying to get under the small bit of shade that was been offered by one small tree. A quick loop of the town and we are on our way. I went along at about four hour pace with Denzil leading us out and two other day trippers James and Ed in close attendance. James kicked on shortly after the mart and I lost Denzil and Ed at the first water station. Fumbling trying to get a zym tablet out of the tube only to realise they had all stuck together with the heat. Got some into the bottle and another bottle to cool myself down. I was surprised that I caught up with Ed so quickly before Kilmurry but he was struggling with an injury and pulled up shortly afterwards. Got to mile 6, had planned on taking on some of my homemade gel drink spent more time looking for it to realise that it must still be in one of the cars circling the course. No worries as I have another at 12 and sure I get it from whoever has it soon enough. Heat was intense but I was feeling okay and still going around four hour pace, I was down time wise due to the delays at the two water stops, but wasn't bothered really as this was not a day for a PB. Tom said todays PB is getting around in one piece which was pretty sound advice. Ran into Paddy at Mile 7 or 8 so I tagged along with him for a bit. Finally got to meet Jennifer dishing out the ice pops, and the like at mile Eight stayed and chatted with Paddy until mile 12 where he was feeling the pace( he was on number two of a back to back in these conditions). I tipped on while he took a breather. Brian or Dave as I called him flew passed me here, thought about tagging on but his pace was a little too hot. Meet Thomas on the way out and he commented I was looking good, and I felt good at this point. Passed half way 2:01:23 on the clock told Sandra I'll get water off her on the way back. Got my gel at the finish and headed out on the second loop. The climb back out of the town broke me. In less than a mile I went from comfortable running to absolutely no energy in my legs. The (eddies) hill sucked me up and spat me out. From here to Kilmurry was a real struggle, I had to stop several times and walk, I was absolutely drained from the heat. Water at the stations was warm and was not helping me. Meet with Siobhan who had a chilled bottle which help a bit but I was still struggling. I was expecting it to cool down in the evening as the sun went down but this was not the case. Just after Kilmurry cross I came down a hill and in front of me was an angel. Bowl of ice cold water and a sponge. I drowned myself, relief,I was so happy I could have kissed her, I think I did too. From here on I was back, picked back up the pace to four hour pace again. Pretty soon I caught up with Gino who was running his 100th today and then I saw in the distance John who took off earlier in the race. He was my next goal so I set about trying to reel him in. It took the mind of the heat and gave me something to focus on. Finally caught and passed him at mile 22. Got halfway up the Bitch as Thomas calls it when again the legs gave out and had no energy. Walked about half a mile to the next station refuelled and once I got over the climb felt good again. I passed the mart(25) just on Four hours and set 4:10 as a goal. Ran from here to the finish but thought I was going to be outside the time. Mike (of Clare FM fame) came along side on the bike and pushed me out to the finish 4:09:50 and it was over. Tom then of course asked probably the most obvious question of the week. "Do you want a can Ger ?". To which I reply as I fell to the ground "Can a duck swim!". Okay there may have been a four letter word in there somewhere. As I skulled my can in the cold tub I was satisfied that today I completed my eighth Marathon in brutal conditions, and it had taken me nearly 47 years to accomplish. I pondered, tomorrow night 18 of these guys/gals would equal that in the same amount of days. This really brought home to me the enormity of this challenge, and what is required to complete it. 

June 29th  
          16 Miles Long 2:28:24 @ 9:14 HR 144

July 2nd         
          10 Miles Tempo 7 miles 54:37 @ 7:49 HR 163 with 1.5 Mile WUWD

July 6th
           13.1 Miles Easy 1:58:14 @ 9:02 NO HR  

July 10th
           26.2 Miles Long 4:09:50 @  9:33 pace, NO HR

One Step Beyond

Let the Madness commence

Today is Day One of a unique event been ran by B.M.O.H to raise funds for the Juvenile section of the club and School Building project for Kilmurry National School. It is also D-Day for the 23 elite runners as described in the Clare Champion or lunatic's, mad-men (and ladies) or whatever else you want to call them. They start their journeys into the unknown of running 10 marathons in Ten Days on the roads of Sixmilebridge.There will of course have other runners completing one or two Marathons over the course of the Ten Days as well, most notably Keith Whyte fresh from his 100K record setting run and Ruthann Sheehan current 24 Hour womens road record holder.
By Monday the people of the Bridge might be forgiven in thinking that the men in White coats need to be contacted, yes it the fancy dress marathon and I am really looking forward to some of the outfits that will be on display. 
Fortunately or unfortunately I have yet to get this level of madness or enlightenment depending on whatever way you look at it but I hope to be there most days to assist in whatever way I can in making sure that on Saturday 13th we see 23 runners complete this unique challenge.
So best wishes to all running this over the next 10 days, and as for the weather well its Sixmilebridge and we may even get snow in July.

A long road up to recovery from here, a long way to making it right

Recovery

Even backing off and walk/running the last 6 miles of last Saturday's Marathon, Sunday Morning was the familiar sight of me walking down the stairs backwards. By Monday I had recovered to the extent that I could now go forward front ways. Went to the local pool and did about 12 laps easy swim with a combination of easy kick drills. This did wonders for the legs. Tuesday I felt good enough to go for an very easy 5 mile recovery run, same on Wednesday. Thursday saw me go for a bit longer, had planned 8 but time restrictions (collect young lad from training) meant it was cut short to 6.5 miles. Saturday came and felt adventurous and went for 12 miles. All was okay until about mile 9 when the legs were starting to feel the pace again. Cut back the pace significantly for the last 3. With hindsight maybe 8-10 miles might have been a better option. Had planned to do 4-5 miles on Sunday but the legs were telling me otherwise. Another 5 miles easy this evening and things are starting to go in the right direction. Have a planned tempo run for tomorrow but we shall see what happens.

Nighty Night

One of the biggest tools in the speeding up of my recovery has being sleep. I am trying to get in as much as possible, a solid eight hours at night and even forty winks during the day where possible. To help with this the stimulants also have to get a knock in the head to a degree, i.e. caffeine and the yellow pints. Okay I did have a few deserved scoops after Portumna, which was to be expected. Overall I am happy with my recovery but my HR readings for both resting and easy pace are still a little higher then I would like them to be.

Reflection and Going forward

While it might be easy to blame the lack of salt/electrolyte for my cramps on the day in Portumna. In truth they may only have being a contributing factor. There was other things at play in the lead up to Portumna that probably added to it. Stress, in both my personal life and work for the month of May, saw my quality of training take a dip. At the time I didn't spot that my condition had deteriorated slightly and kept pushing the pace of some runs where maybe an easy back may have yielded better results. Hard Miles, or lack off of on tired legs. My training was loosely based on run less run faster, where you Cross Train between hard sessions and do very little recovery runs on tired legs. Aerobically I benefited from this plan in that I was always fresh for the next hard session, but both mentally and physically I wasn't prepared or had forgotten what it takes to run on very tired legs for the last 6 miles of a marathon. I am going to return back to some Hadd training again and try and add in extra days recovery runs. Hopefully the added mileage occurs without picking up any niggles along the way. I have also pencilled in one of the 10 in 10 marathons and currently I am on the reserve list for EOI marathon in early August. Whether I do these marathons or not, is unclear at the moment so I will leave that decision until nearer the day. If I do them they will be at a recovery pace (4:30 to 5:00), after which I will access where I am at in mid august to see if another stab at Boston Qualifier is in the legs.

June 18th  
          5 Miles Recovery 45:56 @ 9:12 HR 140

June 19th  
          5 Miles Recovery 46:06 @ 9:14 HR 140

June 20th  
          6.5 Miles Recovery 1:00:00 @ 9:14 HR 140

June 22nd 
       12 Miles Long Recovery 1:48:34 @  9:03 pace, HR 143      

June 25th  
          5 Miles Recovery 45:59 @ 9:12 HR 140

       

Shiny Happy People Laughing

The good the bad and the ugly

Thats what The Forest Marathon in Portumna was on saturday. The good being the spirit and comradeship of the Ultrarunning Community, volunteers, friends and family that had gathered for this event. The bad is despite all the training when something goes wrong on the day it goes very wrong. The ugly (for me anyway) was the cramps I experienced for the last 3 laps.

Race Day

Woke up Saturday Morning raring to go. First stop toilet see if I can pass, no go so some strong coffee followed by a large bowl of porridge. Check everything's pack followed by an hour's drive back. Picked up my number at registration. My bib number is seven, which as this is my seventh marathon is a good omen I tell myself. Urge to use the potty comes so coffee has done its job again. This prep is identical to prep used in all my marathons to date. Set off to the Start which is near the car park in Aldi to get ready. Getting changed in the car park it occurred to me that local housewives were probably getting more than they bargained for with all these athletic bodies togging out before their very eyes. Sun is shining a perfect day lay ahead.

The Start

Courtesy of Peter Mooney

God hates Marathon runners, today convinced me more of this. No sooner had we left the aldi car park to line up for the start but the heavens opened. You would think that maybe some of the ladies would have brought an umbrella for us to stand under no not on your nellie.
Off course there has to be a holdup and just as we get under way the rain subsides. We must run 2.2K from here until the start of the 5K loop. I pick up with the 3:30 pacer into the park and we are all running nicely and the pace is easy enough.
Start to 2.2K 11:00 (8:03/mile)

Early Laps 

Courtesy of Peter Mooney

My plan was to run this at marathon effort and see what splits I could get. I would need 24:15 to contemplate a shot at sub 3:25. First lap was 24:27 so I eased off to 3:30 pace. Was going along quite nicely at this stage until the end of the second lap. Picked up my first bottle of Electrolyte drink 250ml of water with half a Zym tablet. I have used this for the last 3-4 years in racing and training, hits my stomach and straight away my gut just contracts, like there is a fist trying to get out of there. I hold it down but its several minutes before I can get back on pace. After the issue with the Electrolyte I tried to take water at the turnaround on lap 3 but was only able to take a sip when the stomach again tightened up. This pretty much made my mind up as regards taking a gel at the end of this lap. The 3:30 pacer caught me here as well which really surprised me as I thought I had a little more time up on him. End of lap 3 pace is okay but again a small sip of water is all I can really manage.
Lap 1:  24:27(7:52/mile) Lap 2: 24:52(8:00/mile) Lap 3: 24:58(8:02/mile)

Making your Mind up

I now had a dilemma, stick with the 3:30 pacer and hope that the stomach issue resolves. The risk here is if it does not I will hammer the wall pretty hard and probably not finish. Or just easy back into a easy run pace for the remainder of the race. At best I may get some electrolyte on board but I really doubt I would be able to take on a gel at this pace. I decide to ease back about 2K into the fourth lap.  From here on I vary the pace and have a chat with some of the 100K guys along the way. Some can chat, some are facing their own demons and cant, others are walking and suffering but in true ultra fashion are still moving forward. This is the most enjoyable part of the race for me.
Lap 4: 26:08 (8:25/mile) Lap 5: 27:34 (8:52/Mile)

The Living End

Courtesy of Peter Mooney

Possible the toughest time I have every put down running. I have had bad runs and races before but nothing as hard as this. Still on my sips of water and 2K into Lap 6 bang left calf cramps. Stop try to stretch it (bad move) hamstring goes into spasm. So I start to walk and it dies down. A few minutes later I start running, if tightens up a bit again, but I find the faster I run the better it gets. So I now do an alternate walk/run strategy, 2 mins walk and then run at about 7:30 to 8:00 min pace to the next Km marker. This does not last long as the right hammer brings me to a halt just short of the end of the sixth lap. At the same time whatever ball of gas is in my stomach releases as well, thankfully in the upward direction. I hobble into the finish area contemplating stopping, I go over to my drink stash and I am finally able to take on board electrolyte, probably to little to late. A lady sitting beside my drinks offers me her seat, I was seriously going to go for it when I spot Martin from the Clare Crusaders go through. He is in as bad a shape as me and probably had 10 or 11 more laps to do in the 100K but he wasn't stopping, it spurs me on, I decline the offer and continue. She replied 'I'll mind your drinks for you'. Lap 7 was more of the same walk/run but the run was now dramatically getting slower and slower. At the tail end of the lap, the 4 hour pacers where entering the turnaround section as I was leaving it. The boss gave me a shout, there was no way they where going to pass me. Did the maths as rough as possible and I reckoned 7 min/Km would get me home in front of them. Last lap was pretty much that, kept plugging away and praying not to hear the bosses voice in the background. Finally got to the finish and over the line. Unfortunately I forgot that other runners were still coming through and I think I came close to taking out one of the leading 100K guys when I stopped up too quick at the finish. I hobble to my drinks stash and do take the offer of the chair from the nice lady this time. Her husband is doing his first Marathon and was with the 4 hour guys. Unfortunately he didn't make his time and faded badly on the final lap.
Lap 6: 28:43(9:15) Lap 7: 30:06(9:41) Lap 8: 34:12(11:00/Mile)
Overall Time: 3:52:01 (8:51/Mile)

Taking Positives

On the way back to collect my car in the Aldi car park, I said to the boss would you believe it my knee was never an issue in the race. He retorted 'At least thats a positive from the race'. There was in fact much more positives to be got from this race, the ever helpful volunteers and marshall's, the encouraging waves and words between runners as they meet each other on the course, the mooney clan taking photos and prizes, the lady in the chair, that now famous leap of faith (which I witnessed live for the first time), and the lovely home cooking in the ultra tent. I will take what lessons I need to learn from the last three laps and quickly put the experience to the back of my mind, but the other memories will stay with me for a long time to come.

Forest is a Go

Fingers Toes and everything else crossed

The last week has been hell on earth. A taper without running is not a very nice experience. After going for my pre booked rub down, PT reckoned that the knee was an old injury, Funny It never gave me grief before. Plan was to keep RICE for another few days. So we get the most fabulous weather for running that has not been seen in these fair isle for near on 2 years, what am I doing 7 days before a goal marathon, sitting on my arse with an Ice Pack on my knee. Finally the pain was subsiding and on weekend I hit for Spanish point and several dips in the Atlantic really helped not only with knee but other areas that had got a bit of attention from the PT.

The Test

I could defer Portumna to next year If I wished, but I was really looking forward to this. I also had to give Seb a few days notice, it would be unfair to leave it to the very last minute. Plan was Tuesday 20 lengths with the kickboard and 5 miler on Wednesday with 3 miles at marathon effort. As expected the Tuesday session was not going to be the one to stress the knee and went as expected. Wednesday evenings run was to be a different matter. Started off by weighing myself, up 5 lbs since last time I stood on the scales (24th May before 20 miler), checked my RHR which is normally around 49 to 53 but this was 57 to 62. Aphersivelily I start to run, knee was feeling a little bit funny for the first mile or so. Once I got into the MP pace I kinda forgot about it but with a mile down the other knee starts to feel tight across the top of the thigh. I up the pace and throw in a few butt kicks which thankfully sorts it out. I was ignoring the watch for pace and HR and just concentrating on running at a controlled pace both effort and breathing wise. With the RHR been up and more importantly the extra few pounds I pretty much expected the pace to be around 8 min/mile. When I got home I checked it and as expected 8:03 pace @ 157 HR, unfortunately this is not near 3:25 goal pace and there ain't much I can do other the pray for it to improve between now and Saturday. Final call was this morning to make sure that I got not adverse swelling or soreness from yesterday's blowout. Thankfully all is okay.

The Plan

Pondering last nights figures 3:25 looks beyond me, I have not totally given up on it as sometimes miracles can happen. So I will go out with the 3:30 guys from the start until we get to the start of the first loop. If its easy enough I will see if I can get to and hold 7:45-7:50 pace (24:15/lap) without having to push. If I can't then try and remain with the 3:30 guys. If this becomes an effort before the end of the 5th lap, I will just ease up and let the field gobble me up. The last thing I want to do is put a hard race in my legs just to improve my pb to 3:3x:xx. I will still have enough time to get sub 3:25 before September if I keep the legs fresh. If a sub 3:30 is there however I will take that and leave Boston qualifier till Dublin (3:20 pacers this year), this however would leave me out of the 2014 race. Thankfully the only certain thing I know about saturday is that I will be outside Aldi @ 12:00, so much good and bad can happen after that but thats what makes running Marathons so alluring and what I have missed in the last 18 months.

June 2nd 
        5 Miles M3 Miles Marathon Pace 24:09.2 @ 8:03 HR 157 with 1 Mile WU/WD

Taper Madness

Rest and Recovery

Mainly all easy runs last week, but a new issue has emerged. Prior to herself release from Hospital I had to clean the eve shoots as there were trees growing in them at this stage. Out with the ladder and and cleaned them down. Day after walking downstairs is causing me pain in my Right knee. Taper has truly began I thought to myself and put it to the back of my mind.

Sneak Preview

Paid a visit to Portumna on saturday to check out the 5K loop course for the Marathon. I had originally planned to do 4 laps at marathon pace and Warm up and Warm down section from Aldi Car Park. With last week's disaster of a run and my clicking knees from the ladder on Thursday, I decided to do an Easy 5K first and if everything held up do 2 laps at Marathon pace followed by a 5k cool down lap. From the outset I was very impressed with the running surface in the park, hats off to OPW and Coillte it is perfect, but as for the public road section from the Marina to the turnaround, its littered with potholes, not massive ones but they must be avoided at all costs. The course itself is for the most part very flat. There are two sections up and down, after the start its downhill for most of the First Kilometer and then uphill to the Second Kilometer mark, and from the Marina to the turnaround is uphill and down again back to the Marina. They are not major drags by any stretch but enough to make you work a bit harder. One section I found to be the toughest is the last Kilometer, it is one of those long stretches of road that never seems to be getting any closer, while it appears flat it is the only open section of road and on saturday it was into a stiff enough breeze. Only note of concern with this course is if its a fine/dry day like last saturday there will be a lot of visitors on the trails walking with dogs on leads and young children on bikes. This will causes congestion at times in some sections of the course during the race.

The madness begins

Set off first loop nice and easy then two loops at marathon pace where 24:42 and 24:36 respectively, while this is outside my goal pace the weather conditions (warm sunny evening) meant any faster would be too fast.
Warm down loop was cut short just hit the public road and knee went click and that was that. I could walk on it but running was causing pain. Walked back to the start not knowing for sure if I will even make the start in two weeks time. I had a pre booked visit to a PT for tomorrow and have been RICEing since Saturday so we'll just see what happens.

June 2nd 
        18K Marathon Pace 10K 49:43.2 @ 8:00 HR 157 with 5KWU 3K WD and 2K walk

Kaboom

Pressure is only for tyres

Stress and loads of it is where my life unfortunately is at the moment. After Limerick Tom had asked me to pace 1:45 half in Killarney. I had 15 miles at this pace pencilled in that weekend so it was a no brainer. However herself indoors got extremely sick and ended up in Limerick A&E again and is still in Hospital with no resolve to her issue. Adding to this I am very busy at work with a job that is physically demanding for 2-3 weeks. Lorraine is coming towards her Junior cert Exams and has had a few teenage freak outs about them as well. Unfortunately I had to pull out of Killarney as there was just too much other stuff going on. I still managed to do the 15 mile run that weekend but the last three miles felt tough and I had to push just to hold the pace.

Then the tyre final blows

Training had been tough since and that's expected as its the last couple of sessions before the dreaded taper. Last Friday I had taken the day off to complete my 5th and last 20 mile run. Dropped of my water along the route beforehand and set out my plan. Two miles warm up followed by 16 miles of a progression run 2 Miles @ 8:02, 6 Miles @ 7:55, 6 Miles@ 7:49 and 2 Miles @ 7:42 with 2 miles Warm down. Gels at miles 6,12 and 18. Started off well for the first 6 miles until I took my first Gel. Shortly after this I was struggling to hold the pace. By the time I had got to the 7:49 section I was not making the pace, reluctantly took another Gel at 12 with the same result and my pace was going backwards and the effort level was going up. I decided to not bother with the remaining 2 miles @ 7:42. At this point I just stopped and sat on the side of the road for 2-3 minutes just to get my breath back and try and straighten my head for the remaining 6 mile slog home. While friday was a beautiful sunny day for running, there were times in that 6 miles where I really was in a dark place and questioned my sanity and WTF was I doing this for anyway.

Fixing the tyre

Hindsight is great. Well at least I can use it to try and prevent what happened last friday from happening in Portumna. After looking at the HR data my Heart Rate spiked both times after taking the Gel, this is unusual as I had used this Gel in training but I suppose this was the first time they were consumed at race pace. A return to the GU may be on the cards. Ran a recovery run yesterday and the HR numbers were higher but this was expected. Thankfully work has eased off a small bit so I will take the next week and possibly the whole of the taper very easy and just let the body recover. I have planned a trip to Portumna for 13 miles at race pace, I will still go there but do the run at a very easy pace instead.

May 13th         
          12 Miles Tempo 10 miles 1:17:13 @ 7:44 HR 161 with 1 Mile WUWD

May 16th         
          8 Miles Tempo 6 miles 44:36 @ 7:27 (10K pace + PMP) ,HR 160 with 1 Mile WUWD

May 19th

          15 Miles Long run 2:00:04 @  8:01 pace, HR 155

May 22nd

           10 Miles, 8 Miles Marathon Effort 1:01:13 @ 7:40 pace, HR 159 with 1 Mile WUWD 

May 24th

          20 Miles, Long 2:46:27 @ 8:20 pace, HR 161 

Normal Service Resumed

PMP or PME

What is my PMP time? I am aiming for sub 3:25 in Portumna so you would say its sub 7:49 pace. However if you enter my 10K PB set this spring various calculators will spit  out times ranging from 3:28 to 3:19 and just because a calculator spits out a certain time there is no guarantee that you will achieve this on the day.  Recently I have started to introduce Planned Marathon Pace into my Long Runs and Tempo sessions so what pace should I be running these miles at ? 7:49 obviously.
First of these session in the bridge one morning. A favourite of the running coach, some of the lads were doing 15 miles 2 miles warm up with 3 * 3 Miles PMP with 1 mile recovery in between. There PMP speed was around 8:15 so I tagged along at that as I had a 20 mile session down for the day. First 2 were grand but I decided when the others had gone their merry way to try the third @ 7:50 pace, by then the breeze had picked up and 2 miles where on an incline under these conditions it was a struggle to hold the pace. A struggle I won but it was more LT/10K effort. I was pretty disappointed with this at the time. The next session 10 mile PMP run, after two miles a malfunction on my watch meant that it lost connection with foot pod and HR unit (watch battery low) thus leaving me with a dumb stopwatch. I ran the rest of the run on feel as I had no clue of splits on the route. Finished with 1:16:40 for 10 miles 7:40 pace suitably elated and trying to figure out did that run come from. Conditions were ideal, which brought home to me that these runs should be done by effort rather than sticking to a pace. I have now reverted back to the old method of the body telling the brain when we are at Marathon Effort. Last 2 runs have been done like this and in wet and windy conditions. One was at 7:55 pace and the other at 7:49 pace. So currently my marathon pace is anywhere between 7:40 and 7:57 pace largely determined by factors outside of my control, the Irish Weather. Rather than trying to hit a certain pace in my PMP runs I have now resorted to running on what it should feel like or what I perceive it should feel like.

Short Stuff ain't easy

I have pencilled in two of the Clare Sports Partnership Summer Series races just to sharpen me up for Portumna, so on Friday last for the first time in nearly three years that I have raced a 5K or 4 Miler in anger and it showed. It was also my first opportunity to wear the new club gear. After a 2 Mile warm up with some downhill strides I hit the start, goal was to get as near to 27 mins or 6:45 average as possible. Course is uphill first mile undulating for second and third with a downhill stretch to the finish. Fresh breeze which will be in our faces on the way home so it should make the splits more even.

Lined myself up two or three rows back near Liam Daly of Ennis Track. I reckon if I beat him or could stay with him I would be near enough to my goal time. A quick word from James Sexton at the start about KM markers that took up legs and walked and off we went. From the offset it was clear hanging on to Liam was not going to happen, stayed with him for first half mile but no way I was going to hold this pace up. Tucked into a group of six, first mile split was 6:47 second mile started with a quick downhill but Liam was still gaining and at the first left turn I was 20 seconds or so behind. At this point I concentrated on staying with the group as the last mile and a half were going to be into the breeze. Mile 2 slightly quicker 13:29 still on target. After this the wheels came off. Group started to split, 3 lads in front picked up the pace dropping three of us but the other two guys were slowing dramatically leaving me on my own.  Try as I could I failed to bridge the gap to the guys in front who eventually split as well. Mile 3 showed 20:45. Final mile is downhill when some guy come alongside. I tag onto him for as long as possible maybe half a mile but he gradually he got away from me. Coming towards the finish I could see an Ennis Track vest coming alongside, I dug in and picked up the pace enough to open and maintain the gap till the finish. Cross the line James Sexton calls 27:28. I don't even look at the watch, my lungs are on fire and my stomach is about to evacuate its contents which very nearly happened.
The usual cup of Tea afterwards but for personal reason I have to make a quick exit so I don't hang around. Final results show me finishing 37th out of 185 overall. On reflection I was not in 27 minute shape and my lack of races/bad luck cost me maybe a 27:15 as I failed to stay with the 3 guys in the middle of the race but nonetheless another PB bagged. Next race is 5K in Ennis at the end of the month just before my Taper.

April 25th

          12 Miles, 10 Miles PMP 1:16:42 @ 7:41 pace,  No HR with 1 Mile WU/WD

April 28th

          15 Miles Long with 3*3 PMP and 1 Recovery 23:12/7:44,23:15/7:45,23:33/7:49, No HR 2 Miles WU/WD

May 1st         
          8 Miles Tempo 6 miles 44:46 @ 7:28 (10K pace + PMP) with 1 Mile WUWD

May 5th

          13.1 Miles Long run 1:59:28 @  9:09 pace, Pacing GLR Half Marathon

May 8th

          20 Miles, Long Run last 8 Miles 1:03:19 @ 7:55 pace

May 10th

          6 Miles, 4 Mile Road Race 27:28 @ 6:52 pace